Thursday, October 18, 2012

A Great Blog Post to Check Out

I know that I have been MIA for a while.  Please forgive me as we welcomed our new princess into our lives.

I found a great blog post that some of you may want to read about another woman's journey with ptls:


http://extraordinary-ordinary.net/2012/02/26/post-tubal-ligation-syndrome-ah-yeah-thats-really-the-title-of-this-post/


Give it a read and check out the comments.

Love and Blessings to you all.






Monday, April 30, 2012

Medical Journal Posts About Filshie Clips and Pain



It appears that many of my "clipped" girlfriends are experiencing pain and looking for something to print out to take to their docs. I know it's hard for docs to believe unless they see it in print, so here are a few for you to look over.

[Intraperitoneal migration of Filshie tubal sterilization clips: an uncommon cause of chronic abdominal pain].
[Article in French]
Konaté A, Rauzy V, Chalon S, Ceballos P, Rivière S, Ciurana AJ, Le Quellec A.

Source

Service de Médecine Interne A, Hôpital Saint-Eloi, 80, avenue Augustin Fliche, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.

Abstract

Tubal clips for female sterilization account for about 10 to 40% of the contraceptive methods used throughout the world. Clip migration is an unusual complication which may lead to chronic unexplained abdominal pain. We report here the case of a 44-year-old woman who suffered from chronic abdominal pain. The diagnosis of intraperitoneal migration of the Filshie clip fixed five years earlier was made. Cure was achieved with ablation of the clip. Late complications of Filshie clips are uncommon and non-specific. They include tubal necrosis and section, sterilization failure (0.7%), and migration (0.6%). Rare migrations into the bladder, the peritoneum, the appendix, or the vagina have been reported. When investigating chronic abdominal pain in a female patient, the clinician should inquire about sterilization history and carefully examine plain x-rays of the abdomen in women with tubal clips.
PMID: 12193864 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


Uncommon Complications:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2499150/pdf/annrcse01562-0070.pdf

and...

EDITORIAL COMMENT": We accepted this case for publication since it seems to demonstrate conclusively that a clip on the Fallopian tube can produce persistent pain without associated pathology such as infection, adhesions or damage to other organs. Why then is this complication so rare? Why was the postoperative pain unilateral in this woman? Can readers provide the answer to this riddle? One of the reviewers made the comment that this complication is not rare only under-reported and that he has heard a number of anecdotal reports of cases where Filshie clips have been removed and the patient's pain has resolved. This comment from the reviewer is of course anecdotal.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-828X.1997.tb02265.x/abstract

Here's the deal...You go to google scholar and you look up filshie clips, pain with filshie clips, complications with filshie clips, etc. Some you will be allowed to view the whole article, some just the summary. If it is really an article that interests you, it may be worth it to pay for it, somewhere between $4 and $20 bucks. Most of the time the summary, or abstract will tell you all you need to know. 
 
I hope this helps girls. Be strong. Be your own best advocate. If you want the clips out, demand them out. If you want to be whole and functioning, then find a doctor for reversal. Don't let others tell you that you are crazy, or that it is all in your head. Do what's best for you!






Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Best Thing We Never Planned

I know it's been a long time since I posted.  I just couldn't do it because so many things were happening in my life.  Good things.  Things that required my full and complete attention.  I had no energy to look to the past, or  to mistakes, or to talk of things that made me remember sadness or grief.

There seemed to be a change in my atmosphere, one of understanding, where myself and my husband became more in tune with each other's needs.  It's so hard to explain the energy that went on in our household in the fall of 2011, but it was loving, peaceful and all things good.  We came together, the two of us,  both  knowing, and even hoping for another chance at creating life.  And Thanksgiving morning when my planned monthly visitor didn't show, I tested and found that I was once again pregnant.  When I told my husband the news, he said simply, "I've been waiting for you to tell me.  I've known all month this was coming."  He kissed me, and smiled broadly in a way that let me know that this time, things would be different.  We were cautiously optimistic about all of it.  So, I simply dropped writing, or thinking for that matter.  We both just hoped and prayed.  It's funny how I felt the need to coo coon myself at this time, and even hubby seemed extra careful to shield me from the rest of the world, as if that would somehow protect the new life growing within.  I had many early ultrasounds that didn't prove to be hopeful, but we finally had one that showed the shape of our little one.  Doctors didn't have much faith in my ability to carry this child at the ripe old age of 41, but I insulated myself from their remarks, and through faith and grace continued to carry my little one.

Here is the 13 week scan:




Look at the tiny features already apparent.  Nothing short of miraculous in my book.  

Now, I as I am typing this I am 21wks pregnant.  I have had the big anatomy scan, and all looked well.  My heart is overjoyed with love for my child, and for my husband who somehow understood, well, everything.

Here is the latest ultrasound:


Kind of a grainy profile, but beautiful in my book.  We had a hard time seeing the gender, but it was thought to be a girl.  We don't care either way.  

God is definitely good and gives us our hearts desire.  So, pregnancy can happen again in us old gals with a tubal reversal!  I'm proof.  Blessings to you all, I have mine right here inside of me.  :)