Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    one piece of impersonal advice -- get a copy of "The new our bodies
    ourselves" -- it's full of anecdotes, quotes and medical information
    about things that happen to women's bodies. In other words, it's
    a good resource book for both science and feelings. Good luck to
    both of you.
    
    Liz

Hi,

This is my first reply in this conference, but I have been an
avid reader for quite some time.  I was diagnosed with a ectopic
pregnancy about a year ago and was put in the hospital the same
day and had surgery that night!  I was only about 10 days pregnant
and had absolutely no idea that I was pregnant, I went to see
the doctor about some shoulder pain and before I knew what
had hit me, I was pregnant and going in for surgery, what a
shock!  Anyway, in my case they removed part of the tube and
didn't try and repair it so I'm left with one tube.  My understanding
was that the risk of it happening again was much greater if
they DID try and repair the tube because of scar tissue.

Obviously, the chances of becomming pregnant in the future with
only 1 tube are much less, but in my case I'm young (24) and not
ready to start a family yet so if I should have trouble in
the future, we can look into surgery to have the other tube
repaired.

For me, the worst part of this whole ordeal was how tired I
was after the surgery.  I think it took a good six months before
I felt "good" again, and now that it's been over a year I finally
feel like I'm back to normal.

I wish your sister well, and if you have any questions send
me mail.

Susan

    
    
    In 1980 I had an etopic (sp!) pregnancy that ruptured because it
    was not found early.  I have since found out that they are fairly
    common.  I second the suggestion about "The New Our Bodies Our Selves"
    I found a lot of comfort in the old version and I imagine that the
    this one is even better.
    
    _peggy
    		(-)
    		 |	The Goddess guided the authors.
    
    

    
    
    Hello,
    I did not have an ectopic pregnancy, but my cousin did. Her's ruptured
    and she had surgery. The surgeon repaired her tube, he did not remove
    it. However, about 15 months after she became pregnant again, normally,
    after trying for about 9 months. So, do not give up hope, you CAN
    have a normal pregnancy after an ectopic pregnancy.
    

    My mother had an ectopic pregnancy in 1949...and she almost
    died of it...I remeber that she almost wasn't home for Christmas!
    She became pregant again in 1951 and had a third child in 1952.
    
    One thing that she was told at the time was the the ovary without
    the tube either doesn't ovulate and the other one takes over full
    time...or that the body manages to move the egg to the opposite
    tube...but that a woman still is fertile each month after a tubular
    on one side...
    
    

	I had an ectopic pregnancy in 1964 and had a child in October
    	of 1965 exactly one year after the operation.  It was explained 
        to me that the remaining tube was very flexible and could reach 
        over to the opposite ovary and capture the egg for its trip
        to the uterus.
    
    	I also suggest that she read a lot about her body.  It is an
    	emotional and confusing experience.  It was very necessary for
        me to understand why my body did not function properly. 

A couple of the previous notes seem to suggest that if one ovarian tube is
damaged and removed, that the remaining ovarian tube will service both ovaries.

????

I can't imagine that happening!!  Is this true?

Jim. 

    Yes.
    
    If you took a syringe of opaque dye, and squirted it into the uterus,
    it would trickle up the Fallopian tubes and into the abdominal
    cavity, where it would spread all over, until it hit the barrier
    of the pleural membrane.  (This is not done often.)
    
    The ovaries are in the abdominal cavity.  An egg takes the reverse
    path of the dye.
    
    							Ann B.

    re .8:
    
    True, but do you really expect the egg from the "tubeless" ovary
    to actually make it all the way over to the other tube? I'd think
    that for all practical purposes, those eggs are lost, and the only
    reason the ovary is there is to produce hormones.
    
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    

    "our bodies ourselves" might have more info on this phenomenon.
    
    liz

    As I recall it...and it has been while now ....the whole area inside
    the upper abdominal cavity is lined with cilia...tiny hair like
    cell projections that beat together producing a current...There
    are similar cells in the lungs that move dust and other debris out
    of the lung passageways....Also around the mouth of the Fallopian
    tube are many tiny finger like projections that can move independantly
    and are also covered with cilia...
    I have seen a movie taken by laproscopy (sp?) which showed the
    end of the fallopian tube actively moving around 'hunting' for the
    released egg, and 'grabing' it. I am assuming that there are chemical
    cues that are released with the egg when it is ovulated that stimulates
    the beating activity of the cilia and the search and grab activity
    of the fallopian tube. 
    
    So given that the fallopian tube is stimulated to search for the
    released egg, and that currents are set up to carry the egg by
    the abdominal cilia...it is not unreasonable to conclude that the
    remaining fallopian tube can capture an egg released on the other
    side.
    
    Bonnie

    About 25 years ago, my aunt had an ectopic pregnancy.  Previously, she
    had something go wrong with an ovary, and the military hospital she
    went to removed that ovary.  The tube on the right side was intact, but
    there was no right ovary.  After the pregnancy, she had a left ovary,
    but no tube.  Her doctors told her she could not get pregnant again.
    It seemed to be true - that was her 3rd pregnancy in 4 years.  She
    never got pregnant again. 
    
    So, while it may be possible for a tube to pick up an egg from the
    opposite ovary, it may not happen often.
    
    Elizabeth

This is my first entry to this notefile, but I have been a reader off and on
for a month or so now.  This topic, and the infertility topics, are very
close to me and I felt a need to respond.

After more than a year of trying to start a family (although it seemed much
longer since I too was one of those people that thought I could plan to have
my baby in April), I discovered I was pregnant this July.  Unfortunately that
joy only lasted a day or two before I discovered it was an ectopic and was
rushed in for emergency surgery.

In my case the doctor did save the tube.  She explained they try to do this in
case in the future they discover the other tube is also damaged.  They then
will have two tubes to try to repair with microscopic surgery, and hopefully
one will work.  She also told me she had a patient with only a right ovary and
only a left tube, that did become pregnant.  How often something like that
occurs I cannot say, but she did assure me that even with a missing (or
damaged) tube, you will remain fertile each month.

In reply to .0, I would love to talk to your sister or anyone else who has
experienced an ectopic.  Yes, it can happen again, and each month I have a
new added fear.  It was bad enough being disappointed each month that I was
not pregnant, but now I have to watch for signs of another ectopic.  My aunt
and one of my mother's best friends also had ectopics (back in the 1940's
-1950's) and later had children, so there is hope, but I personally know how
hard it is not to become depressed over this.


Marjean

    
    I am a little confused.  When you have a ectopic pregnancy, does
    this mean that you loose your baby?
    
    

    The way I've always read it is, if it isn't treated soon enough,
    you lose your life.  It's not like the tubes are a great place for
    fetal development.  These kinds of pregnancies don't make it to
    the end of the first trimester, or anything like that.
    
    Go read "Our Bodies, Our Selves".

	My wife and I have been trying for six years to have children.
	She got pregnant in July, but found out she had an ectopic pregnancy
	in each tube.  One had ruptured, and was totally destroyed.
	The other was operated on.  However, the doctor has not offered
	high hopes at all for having children through the "normal" means.

	One possibly good note for the future: if the woman has had a tube
	removed, John Hancock will pay 100% of the costs of in-vitro
	fertilization and all other medically related expenses.  We had
	been considering this, but figured there was no way to pay the
	expenses.  At present, we are investigating this more completely.

	RE: In Vitro Fertilization

	I heard on the radio that a new Mass. law has gone into effect
	(on Jan 8, I believe) whereby health insurance has to provide
	as much benefits for IVF as they do for maternity benefits.
	This means that there should be some sort of coverage regardless
	of damage.  People could check with their health plans to 
	see how much is covered.

    Even though this note was started about 6 weeks ago, I decided to
    go ahead and enter a couple of comments.
    
    I'm one of the "lucky" ones who has had *THREE* ectopic pregnancies
    (and one miscarriage).  They were INTENSELY and OVERWHELMINGLY sad 
    for me because they were each one a wanted pregnancy.  But, what
    I wanted to add is that we were able to have a daughter.  What a
    blessing she is!  So remember, in Him, there can always be hope
    for your sister.
    
                                       - Elaine
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    From note 733.71:
    
>    When an ectopic pregnancy is terminated, the fetus is still alive
    
    When my wife has an ectopic pregnancy her OB/GYN told her that when
    the egg is developing in the fallopian tube that it doesn't develope
    normally and isn't a viable fetus.
    
    Which is true?
    
    ASP

    From what I understand in the case of an ectopic pregnancy the
    fetus is alive but is not developing normally. When an ectopic
    ruptures the fallopian tube the fetus would still be *much* too
    small to survive. According to the recent Newsweek article the
    developing fetus has to weigh over a pound to have any chance at
    all of surviving. Any smaller than that and the lungs will not
    have developed enough to allow the baby to breathe air. 

    Is the termination of an ectopic pregnancy considered an abortion? If
    so, is it considered "allowable" by those who frown on abortion?

    					-- hs

    Re: .22
    
    I would say that the termination of any fetus is an abortion.  As
    to whether it's frowned upon by anti-abortionists - that depends
    on the individual.  Most people who oppose abortion would go along
    with it if it were necessary to save the mother's life.

    Although I cannot quote doctrine...when I had an ectopic pregnancy
    the priest visited me before and after the surgery.  He counseled
    me in the need for the surgery and did what he could to help me
    in the grieving process for the child that would never be.

    I'm not an expert on doctrine, but when a former roommate had an
    ectopic pregnancy, her priest explained to her that it was considered
    simply a medical procedure, similar to a D&C after a miscarriage,
    because the fetus is not viable. 
    
    As in Joyce's case, he was very supportive the whole time.
    
    I mean, if the mother isn't going to live to term, the baby isn't
    going to make it either.
    
    --bonnie

    Reaching back into my past life as a medical person...
    If an ectopic pregnancy should rupture(which happens as the fetus
    grows) the incidense of death from hemoraging is very high.  the
    procedure we had to do was to remove the tube itself because of
    the damage from the fetus attaching itself there.  The fetus itself
    does not receive enough nurishment so never reaches "normal" size.
    the pain I have seen women go through as the fetus grows is tremendous
    and the blood loss to the mother is critical.  Its been a few years
    but I haven't read anything new regarding the viability of the fetus
    but back then the mother never could make it past a few months and
    then with a lot of pain.  The tube itself is about as big as wide
    as your finger.  It can only stretch so far. 
    This is just "my" personal understanding of what was going on when
    I worked in the operating room.  
    
    vivian