[Issue 2:12]
If things really went as written [Original below], I would strongly suggest the writer (and victim) insist on a medical review of her case! If she had been diagnosed
correctly, which is not difficult with an ultrasound, her doctor may have
been able to save her tube. I've never heard of a blood test to see if the
"embryo is alive" in the case of ectopic pregnancy. (In the case of
possible fetal demise, of course, we do serial Beta Hcg before the option
of D&C.) In the case of ectopic pregnancy, that is a moot point. Immediate
surgery to save the life of the mother is always the treatment.
[Issue 2:10]
In the following experience, I listened to my body, then listened to an
incompetent ER doctor and it nearly cost me my life.
One evening I stood up, took two steps and went straight to the floor. I
stayed there for two hours. When I tried to sit up I found I was in intense
pain from my knees to the bottom of my ribcage. I couldn't sit, lie down or
get comfortable. I thought I had the flu but soon found that I was bleeding
for the third time in a month.
My doctor told me to go to the emergency room. We both thought I had a
tubal pregnancy. I got to ER around 11 pm. They did numerous tests,
including an ultrasound. Finally at 3 am the doctor stumbled back in and
said I had had a miscarriage and that he would give me something for pain.
He said my uterus was empty and there was "nothing to indicate an ectopic
pregnancy." They gave me half the shot that he had ordered by IV; I lay
down and was out for two hours. When I came to, two nurses and my mom were
slapping my face to wake me up. I don't remember the trip home and I didn't
wake up again for 14 hours.
When I got up the next morning I was still in pain. Awhile later
I went to the clinic. My doctor ordered the records from the hospital; they
showed I had an ectopic pregnancy! It said that I had a 5.5 cm "cyst" on my
left tube; the doctor who read the report said he could not rule out an
ectopic pregnancy. My doctor, who was leaving town, told me to go to the
hospital and get another blood test to see if the embryo was still alive.
He said they would do something the next day.
The test at the hospital showed the embryo was dead. The next day I went
back to the clinic and lay on the floor with my kids for a couple of hours
in the waiting room. Finally the doctor came in and said he was sending me
to another doctor. He packaged up my records and sent me to a neighboring
city. I was glad when the doctor there said I was going straight to
surgery. I was doubled over on the table after his exam.
When I came out of surgery the nurses there told me I had had a ruptured
ectopic pregnancy and that I was lucky to be alive. I went home after 24
hours and other than losing my milk and having a fussy son for a couple of
days, I felt fine.
-C.L.
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 12 March 24, 2000)
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