Very emotional day for my family. A little backstory: My brother and his wife have one child who is one and a half. A few months ago my sister-in-law had a miscarriage, but so far as I know there were no complications.
Early this morning I got a call to rush to the hospital as my brother was about to step into the ambulance to rush his wife to the hospital. When I got there, he told me she "crashed" though I'm not sure what technically medically happened, and that she had to be revived. Then they rushed her into surgery. The immediate diagnosis was that an ectopic pregnancy burst out of her fallopian tube and hit a blood vessel leading to serious internal bleeding.
We waited for a couple hours before the surgeon came in to tell us she was out of the woods. She lost almost 7 pints of blood. The surgeon was guessing a bit, as I guess there's no way to be sure between sponges and saline solutions used to clean the area, but he said when they first got in there, they had to suction away 5 pints of straight up blood, and he estimated she'd lost a total of 7. They put 4 back in her, with another 2 on stand by in case she needed it. They also had to remove her left tube.
It was a tense day. My brother handled himself remarkably well. He's normally somewhat squeamish regarding things with blood, and he's very emotional where his family is concerned. But he held it together for most of it. But it was a near thing. If they'd waited even a few more minutes to call the ambulance it could have been worse.
Now that she's out of the woods and the immediate danger is over (they said she could actually go home as soon as tomorrow so long as her numbers come back normal and they see her tests doing what they want them to do), I'm curious about a few things and I'm wondering if any of the community here has any experience with this.
Will this affect their chances of a successful pregnancy in the future? Is she more likely to have another miscarriage or is there an amount of time they'll have to wait to try again? Or will it even be harder to conceive?
I don't want to ask my brother about what the doctors have said since I don't want him dwelling on it, and I don't really trust the internet to Google around and see what's out there.
Anyway. Long day. Tough day. But I'm glad the family came together and we got through it alright.
Posted by Mr. Y (Member # 11590) on :
I'm glad that she made it through. I hope she will recover quickly.
Posted by tertiaryadjunct (Member # 12989) on :
Good to hear she made it through.
My mother had an ectopic pregnancy (ironically after more than a decade of unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant. I was adopted). I only barely remember visiting her in the hospital when I was 4. Scary then and I'm sure even more scary as an adult who understands the full reality of the situation.
I'm not a doctor so I can't answer your questions, but I can say they gave my mom a full hysterectomy. It seems to me that if your sister's doctors left as much intact as possible there was probably good reason/hope.
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
I'm glad she survived. This must be very hard on her.
I hope she's able to recover fully.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Statistically her chances of getting pregnant are lowered, and her chances of having another ectopic pregnancy are higher than a woman who hasn't had one. But many women do have successful pregnancies after an ectopic.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Holy crap. I'm glad to hear she's coming through.
Posted by JanitorBlade (Member # 12343) on :
So glad she's still with us, hope everything goes OK.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
So glad to hear she's okay.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Thanks for your thoughts and well-wishes everyone.
My sister-in-law is home from the hospital and appears to be in good spirits and good health.
I appreciate you all letting me vent about such a rough day.
Posted by Risuena (Member # 2924) on :
While very different circumstances, my family and I have been dealing with similarly serious and scary circumstances with my father (I got my first non-patient ambulance ride! I would have been happy to have never experienced that first). It has to be one of the most terrible things imaginable. I'm very sorry that you and your family have to deal with this.
Also, while it's not the same, my sister-in-law had to have a hysterectomy last year. She has two children and is content with two children, but she still had to go through a process of grieving. She didn't (and doesn't want more children), but prior to the hysterectomy there was always the possibility that she could have more children if she changed her mind.
I would imagine that your sister in law might also go through a similar grieving process (especially since the chances of her getting pregnanat are lower), even if she does have more children. It will be more difficult now and it's possible that she might feel like her body is failing her or has failed her.
Whatever happens, it's a difficult thing and I wish you and your family the best.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Thanks for your thoughts and well-wishes everyone.
My sister-in-law is home from the hospital and appears to be in good spirits and good health.
I appreciate you all letting me vent about such a rough day.
heh, just glad everything went ok
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
So almost a year to the day since this happened...
My sister in law was rushed to the hospital AGAIN last night with what turned out to be another ectopic pregnancy. Luckily she recognized the warning signs ahead of time and they were able to take care of it before it seriously injured her, but they had to remove her other tube, which means she will be unable to naturally conceive going forward.
My brother and SIL were initially devastated, but as the doctors have been talking to them about IVF and other possibilities their spirits are coming back up, She'll recover much faster this time, but the road ahead to having a second child just got a lot more expensive, which will put a strain on them.
Very tough weekend for the family.
Posted by RivalOfTheRose (Member # 11535) on :
thats quite awful..... and creepy
so sorry
Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
Oh, the poor girl... My heartfelt condolences.
Have they had her eggs collected prior to the recent incident?
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Oh my god... how terrifying. I'm so sorry. I'm glad she's ok, though, and that you're all relaxing and recovering...
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Hope all is well.
Posted by JanitorBlade (Member # 12343) on :
That's so sad. Some insurance companies will cover IVF (But only 1 or 2 attempts from what I've seen).
Hope they can find a solution that works for them.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Thanks everyone for your responses.
She's resting comfortably and recovering quickly. I have the same insurance as my brother and sadly it doesn't cover any assistance for non natural conception. I think they are going to look into switching her to her work's insurance and seeing if they do.
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