DES articles & T-shaped uterus surgery - very long but worth the read

[Guest guest]

All,

Before the year is over, I wanted to pass on some very interesting

links to articles about DES:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?

pagename=article & node= & contentId=A49275-2003Sep22 & notFound=true

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2003/08/04/hlsa0804.htm

For those of you wondering if you were exposed to DES after 1971,

here is an excerpt from the first article:

" The FDA responded in 1971 by issuing a bulletin to physicians. It

said DES should not be prescribed for pregnant women. Paving the way

for other hormone replacement therapies, DES was later used for

hundreds of treatments -- from prostate cancer and acne and

menopause symptoms, to suppressing breast milk and stimulating

livestock growth. Today it is mainly used in veterinary medicine to

treat incontinence in dogs and cats. "

While the FDA warned physicians about DES, it was not banned from

use.

On a much more positive note, I have heard from someone who had the

surgery for the T-shaped uterus. After 9 years of infertility, she

conceived naturally 7 months after the surgery (her daughter is now

20.5 months old). She has eagerly allowed me to share her story

with you, which I have copied below. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy New Year to All!

Mikell, 32

T-shaped uterus, ttc #1

*********************************************************************

" When I saw your posting on the DES page, I wanted to share with you

what I had gone through and what I had found and what I did and

current what is happening with me.

I had two early miscarriages from inseminations. I was never able to

get pregnant on my own without doctor's help. I had tried Clomid,

Profasi, Fertinex, etc and I kept having miscarriages or no luck at

all. Then I came across an article about a surgery to correct the

famous T-Shaped uterus that many of us DES sisters have. I found an

article about the surgery from DES ACTION newsletter (sometimes in

1994- first article about the possibility and Winter 1999 -results

of the surgery ). I found the doctor and I had the surgery done (Jan

30, 2001).

I'm from Michigan and I had to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota to have

a surgery. What Dr. Nagel (nagel007@...) did was put

me out for the surgery, dilated my cervix, cut two slits, one each

side of the uterus (I was a classic T-shaped uterus owner) then

finally put a sterilized balloon (filled with fluid) to keep it open

(purpose of the surgery is to make the room inside roomier and

hopefully smoother).

I had to take Estrogen for 4 weeks (to develop new lining to cover

the open wound), wear the balloon for 7 to 10 days (based on his

estimate when he wrote me a letter introducing the surgery. Mine is

total 11 days) and Proveria (to start my period again) during the

last week of the Estrogen schedule. The surgery lasted up to one

hour and I got out of it with no problems. The hospital, Fairview-

University Medical Center was an excellent facility!!

Per Doctor's request, I had another x-ray taken of my uterus (I had

one done 8 years ago). According to this x-ray specialist, the

uterus looks normal?!?!?

According to the doctor, he told me that the miscarriage rate

reduces drastically and the amounts of live healthy births increased

high! My mom's biggest concern was the rupture of the uterus and the

Dr told her that he had never heard that problem with us DES girls.

We will still expect traditional problems, bed rest, cerclage (tie

up the cervix), etc. Good note about the Doctor, he is affiliated

with University of Wisconsin, which was a bonus for Mom. I had to go

through two periods (one from Proveria and one on my own) before I

can start trying again.

We had been trying for almost nine years, with two miscarriages on

our resume. We had unprotected sex since March 2001, trying again

on our own. After months of trying, we just gave up. I had been

taking prenatal vitamins since February and no luck until June or

so. Then, on August 3, 2001, I noticed that my period was late

(anywhere from 21 to 30 days) and it was day 31. I took a pregnancy

test and holy smokes! I got pregnant ON MY OWN!!!! I

still do not believe it myself!

From my first two miscarriages, I had bleeding 10 days after

insemination and this one, went along perfectly. Now, my best

friends and husband (others did not know yet) feel strongly that I

will finally make it through 9 months.

The pregnancy went really well and my daughter was born on her due

date. The only complication I had was the high blood pressure.

We made it and now we have a beautiful 13-month-old daughter.

Thankfully my insurance covered everything.

The doctor is

Dr. Theodore C. Nagel, M.D.

Reproductive Medicine Center

606 24th Avenue South,

Suite 500

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454

Phone:

Fax: 612 626-4888

Good luck!!

Jane

`63

I am glad that I was able to put hope into your heart. I forgot to

mention that I requested to have a cerclege put in. I was not in

danger but I was not going to lose my baby just to prove that my

cervic could be incompitent or get soft. I had the cerclege put in

around 15 weeks. After the cerclege was cut at 39 weeks, it

dialated at 1 cm already!

Good luck and I wish you the best of luck. I would advise you to

contact Dr. Nagel, even if your doctor doesn't believe in it. I had

a doctor to consider to do the surgery but he was not confident

about it and he was concerned about it. As a result, my daughter

turned out " perfect " , just like your future daughter or son :-). "