Post-Surgery

The surgery went very well, but took longer than expected due to a surprising turn of events. The doctors found that the baby had implanted in my left fallopian tube - oh, you know the one that was removed in December! My post-surgery brain could not begin to understand this, I was just relieved to have gotten to keep my right fallopian tube and ovary.

Apparently, it is standard protocol during the fallopian removal surgery to leave that tiny portion (1 cm) of the external tube because cutting any closer would require cutting into the uterus itself, which could cause more damage and greatly raises the risk of post-op bleeding/complications. The surgery leaves the portion of the tube that crosses through the uterus and the small portion that is inside the uterus because attempting to remove these would need to involve resecting the uterus, as well. The baby implanting in that tiny, tiny portion is so incredibly rare that it is not typically worth the risk of removing it. During this surgery, they cleared out the blood and removed our baby, then they removed that tiny left over portion of the tube, and sewed up the edge of the uterus.

Once we understood what happened, our grief was compounded. Not only was I overcome with sadness for the loss of our baby, but I was also mad. Mad that this same tube could steal ANOTHER one of our babies. Mad that we had done "everything right" by getting the previous surgery, and it wasn't enough. Mad believing that our doctors should have known or should have told us of that risk. I was devastated, shocked, mad and confused - How are we here.... again?