New member - Katy

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone -

I was diagnosed with AS a few weeks ago and was lucky enough to find

this group right away, but I didn't feel ready to post until now. I

swing between sadness and fear and fury in the space of an hour. I

feel like I'm going crazy. I tried to read the emails and the info

on this site at various times, but had to stop all the time because I

felt sick to my stomach from the anxiety.

Here is my story... My daughter Sara was born in May 1998 after a

wonderful trouble-free pregnancy. Her birth, however, was a

different story. I was delivering with a midwife in a birth center

across the street from the hospital. I was 10 centimeters dilated

and pushing before my midwife realized that Sara was breech. I was

rushed to the hospital for an emergency C-section, but I was too far

along. I had a level 4 episiotomy (the worst, on a scale of 1-4)

with minimal pain medication because there was no time. After her

birth, I had repeated bouts of very high fevers (103.8F) which they

attributed to my milk coming in or a breast infection. I bled

heavily for three weeks and passed clots the size of oranges, so I

was put on bedrest on a Friday afternoon until they could do an

ultrasound the following Monday. That Friday night I started to

hemorrhage and passed out on my bathroom floor. I was rushed to the

hospital in near-critical condition and given 4 units of blood to

stabilize me until the ob/gyn got in at 9:00 the next morning. When

the ob finally arrived, she turned out to be the most callous,

insensitive doctor I have ever encountered anywhere... I told her

about my difficult birth experience and said that I was terrified and

still in pain from the episiotomy, and she proceeded to do the

roughest internal exam that I have ever had. I felt like I had been

raped. I was told that I had retained placenta and had a D & C with

that same ob that afternoon. (With the information I have now about

rough D & C's and Asherman's, I can't stop obsessing over her treatment

of me... If she was like that when I was awake and begging her to

stop, what the h--- did she do to me when I was under

anesthesia????))

It took me about six months to recover physically because of the

amount of blood I lost, and at the same time, I fought through a year

of post-traumatic stress disorder, complete with panic attacks,

nightmares and depression. I didn't think I'd ever want another

child.

Fast forward five years... This spring I had started to consider the

possibility of baby #2, so I went to a new gyn to see if my light

periods would be a problem. Since Sara was born, I have had very

light periods and in the past year, even lighter (1-1.5 days of dark

brown discharge). In the past years, I have mentioned my light

periods, increased cramping and my birth history to two midwives and

one ob/gyn. They all said it was nothing to worry about as long as I

had a regular cycle. The new ob that I saw in April immediately

suggested an HSG and mentioned possible scarring. I was diagnosed

with " moderate Asherman's " and have an appointment with Dr. Copperman

on July 17th for an initial consult.

I contacted an attorney and was told that this " wasn't worth

pursuing " because 1) it would be difficult to prove who was at fault,

and 2) the statute of limitations is only 2 years in CT. Everyone

tells me that a lawsuit wouldn't help and that it won't change the

situation. But I am so angry! I want someone to take responsibility

for this. I want someone to APOLOGIZE. How can it be that just

because I wasn't psychologically ready to have another baby within

some random two-year time limit, they get away with this negligence?

And why didn't someone discover this sooner so it might have been

easier to treat? I seem to be a textbook case on Asherman's -

retained placenta, post-partum infection, rough D & C, light periods,

cramping... how could they not have known?

And now I'm all worked up again. I have to go do something else.

Sorry this is so long... Once I started, it all came pouring out.

Thanks for listening.

[Guest guest]

Katy,

I'm so sorry for all that you've been through. I'm glad you're going

to an A-list dr at this point. I too am a patient of Dr.

Copperman's. He is wonderful. I had a mild case of AS after I m/c'd

at 10 weeks last year. He performed a hyst on 5/5 & I got the green

light to ttc after my last period.

good luck on the 17th and keep us posted.

D

[Guest guest]

Dear Katy, welcome to the group but I am sorry you have to be here.

So sorry for all that you had gone through, however, I'm happy you

found this group and is already on your way to seeing an A-list dr as

the success rate is higher when treated by an ashermans specialist.

I so much understand the swing moments, finding this site makes one

feel like someone who suddenly regained her sight after being blind

folded for sometime. The kind of information one gets after finding

this site, you wish you had known all that much ealier than later.

Let the success stories here be source of hope for you knowing that

some people with even worst case scenarios were able to have

successful surgeries and went on to have healthy babies. Looking

forward to your update. Best wishes...

Gladys

[Guest guest]

Katy,

I am so sorry for all that you have been through and that you have AS.

I am happy that you have found us though and that you will be seeing

Dr. man(hope I got his name right). I have heard nothing but

great things about him and his bedside manner. I understand too well

the feelings that you have between the terrible doctor and the

mistakes made and the anger regarding a law suit. It seems to be very

difficult to win a law suit here in the US for AS but I am hoping that

we have a break through in that area too. When I lost my daughter at

19 weeks, I had a cerclage in place and I had gone into labor anyway

so the cerclage was tearing through my cervix with the contractions.

The horrid OB on call went in an removed my cerclage without pain

relief even though I begged for it. I have never in my life had

anything hurt like that before and I have had both kidney stones, gall

stones and had gone through labor before. I also have a high pain

tolerence but I know where you are coming from when you talk about

having a doctor be rough because this one was too. He is also the OB

who missed over 5 cm of retained placenta and did my D & C which has

resulted in severe AS. Talk about feeling lucky to have the same

horrid doctor be on call both times!!! Anyway we all understand where

you are coming from and the nightmare of hemmorhaging is one that

hasn't left me either. I didn't pass out however I was 1 hour from

the hospital and we were in the middle of an ice storm so I really

thought that I was going to bleed to death before getting to the

hospital and was praying that I wasn't going to leave my 1 year old

without a Mom. I am so happy that you have found us before another

doctor has had the chance to do further damage and like Corrina said,

the fact that you are having any type of a period is a good sign that

you have functioning endometrium and this is so important for

successful treatment. Please keep us updated and vent here anytime

that you need to. Finding out you have AS is a devastating feeling

especially at first and we all understand your feelings right now!

Take care!

Sending you a welcome ((((HUG))))

Roxie

[Guest guest]

Nice job, Roxie, you put it so well. I am so proud of this

group.....Gladys