More Than You'd Ever Want To Know About My Innards

Thursday was my post op consultation with my RE.


He started by telling me that approximately 80-85% of the time, he finds pretty much exactly what he was expecting to see during surgery. About 5-10% of the time, he won't see anything, even though the patient presents with incredible pain and/or symptoms. Then there are the times when he performs a surgery and is blown away by what he finds.

Any guesses which category he said I was in? I dare to be original far too often. Sigh. I apparently had way more issues than he ever expected.

I know.

I am a lucky girl.

Let's break this down into the good and the bad: ***Warning. Blood and guts ahead***

The Good:

1) Not a lick of endo was found, although he expected it. He said he looked for it extensively.

2) My uterus is "beautiful." This is what the inside of a uterus looks like:

Another view. Apparently the "flaking" is normal. It reminds me of some strange sort of spider webbing. Creepy.


Lastly, he checked the tubal openings to check that they are open and clear. I received an A+ for that too.


3) The scarring he found was likely due to the c-section as opposed to some sort of venereal disease. (Duh!) Apparently, if you have a VD, it often causes scarring on the liver. My liver was squeaky clean. :-)

Not sure what the yellow organ is. He told me, but I have to admit that I focused on the no VD part and lost a lot of the other info about this picture.

4) I stim very well even taking my fsh into consideration. Apparently, I stim like a younger woman...well, a younger older woman. ?? You get the point. I have a history of 10-12 eggs with 75-100% fertilization.

5) I have managed to get pregnant four times. I will be on Lovenox for at least the first trimester of any subsequent pregnancies. (It worked once, so we'll go back to do the tried and true.)

6) The internal ultrasound on Thursday felt...different. Better. Let's just say that he didn't have to root all around in there to find what he was looking for. (and sex was also different--in a good way)

The Bad:

1) The left tube is gone. It was definitely capable of hindering implantation and was not salvageable.

Notice the bulging just below and left of the surgical tool. (It is blue because it is filled with dye.) That is not normal. Clearly there is a blockage.

Did you know your ovaries are bright white? Yep. Didn't know that either.

Here's what my tube looks like now. I have dubbed her "stubby."


2) The right tube is still there, but she is not exactly in her best form. I have dubbed her "wonky." This is a diagram of what she looked like originally. Notice that she leads to NOWHERE. Ahem.


This is what the right tube looked like before the RE straightened it out.

He said that he tried his best to place it where it belongs, but he can only do so much. His best guess is that if I am going to get pregnant with it naturally, I would do it within the next 3-6 months. After that, he thinks there is a strong possibility of more scar tissue forming.

I also would need an early ultrasound to check for ectopic should I get pregnant naturally. (He actually said for me to call them immediately...)

Even with all of this going against it, I am glad that Is.aac decided to have him leave it. With it there, there is at least a chance. Sure it is slight, but at least it is there.

3) My uterus had many adhesions and was fused to my abdominal wall--somehow my belly button was involved. I think he said that the scar tissue ran from my uterus to my abdominal wall above my belly button. He also said that my uterus was much, much higher than it should have been.

To do the lap, he initially made three incisions: one in the middle of my c-section scar, an inch long one on my right side about level with my hip bone, and one through my belly button which needed 4-5 stitches. Those incisions should have made it possible for him to be above my uterus. Unfortunately, once he was in there, he realized that rather than being above my uterus, he was below it...by a lot. At that point, he made a fourth incision on my left side about two inches higher than my hip bone level. It's about 1/4" wide and an inch long. (Ugh. This incision got infected. It is going to leave a mother of a scar.)

The RE checked things out, broke scrub to go talk to Is.aac about the mess he found, and then went back in to clean things up.

Here are some pictures of the ole ute:

Notice the bands of adhesions on the uterus...


This one is of him starting to cut through the bands to release my uterus and let it "drop" back to where it belongs...

4) You already saw the hives. I swear I reacted to just about everything I could from this procedure. This is a picture of my belly button reaction to the stupid stitches.

That sucker itched like crazy! It had already started to subside a bit by the time I took this shot, too. I still have a bit of redness, but it is mostly gone at this point.

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So, there you have it. My lady bits are all nice and pretty now. Here's hoping they do their job and start working.