Finding the Rainbow After a Storm

Today was our post-op appointment after the hysteroscopy done last week.

The pathology results from the biopsy came back with 2 findings: 1.) chronic inflammation, & 2). placental plaque, or tissues.

The chronic inflammation is probably due to all of the zillion procedures that have been done.  The placental plaque or tissue, on the other hand, was not what we were expecting. Somehow, someway, there is still placenta left in my uterus from a pregnancy. Don’t ask me how.  In fact, it was not even able to be seen on the hysteroscopy, it was only detected through the biopsy.  If something “rare” were to happen, you already knew it would.

So, the plan is to remove, or try to remove this “invisible” placenta when we try to remove the Adenomyoma in a few weeks. Removing the Adenomyoma will go something like this: Under general anesthesia, the doctor will once again enter my uterus with a camera through the cervix, locate the mass, and “shave” it down with a special tool, that she called a “wand” at one point. A wand! Ha! Like this is a fairy tale or something.

After she shaves the mass down enough to where it appears flush with my uterine wall, she will inject Vasopressin into my uterus to make it contract.  The Vasopressin will force any “hidden” Adenomyoma to seep out.  Sounds disgusting, I know.  I guess entire Adenomyomas are not always fully visible, which brings us to the next point.  Our doctor said, and I quote, “there is a chance I may not be able to safely remove the entire Adenomyoma” or that “the cavity will appear normalized at the time of the surgery, but there will be residual tissue left that can grow back.”

She will take get out as much as she can safely, without damaging my uterus, and send it out to pathology to confirm that it was indeed an Adenomyoma.  She will also insert a balloon in the place where the mass previously was (in order to prevent scar tissue from forming). The balloon will stay in my uterus for about a week as it heals (maybe I’ll fly away). Of course, she said I won’t even feel it, but I doubt she ever walked around with a balloon in her va-jay-jay.

About a month after all this jazz (in June sometime), we will have to do another diagnostic hysteroscopy/biopsy, just like the one last week.  This will confirm that the Adenomyoma is fully gone, along with the placental tissue.  It’s hard for me to think about not being able to fully remove it.  I guess because we know it has to come out entirely, or we cant even consider getting pregnant.  And even if it is fully removed, there is always the chance another one will grow back.  And there is not timeline as to when, or how quickly.  This is very frustrating to say the least, especially since there is a pretty good chance this caused us to miscarry the last time.  You know I don’t believe in percentages, but if I had to give you one on whether this mass caused the loss or not, I’d say I’m 90% sure it did.

The doctor thinks that this Adenomyoma has probably been festering for a little while now (at least before the last transfer). In fact, the “fluid” that popped up back in December, that almost cancelled our transfer, we can most likely thank Mr. Adenomyoma for.  Fluid can be related  to many things, among them, less commonly, an Adenomyoma. Of course there was no way in knowing this was the relationship then-I saw every single ultrasound, SIS, and HSG with my own eyes, and this mass was not visible. So how can we not help but ask why, God? Back in December, we prayed and prayed for that transfer to be cancelled if it wasn’t right.  Maybe we didn’t see the signs.  I don’t know.  I’m not sure if we will ever know.  But, we can’t keep looking back, we can only look forward and hope.  Looking back hurts.  And getting angry doesn’t help either.  I know God never wastes a hurt.  My mom reminds me of this frequently.  If we can help one person, or couple out there, then at least some good can come out of this loss.

We received this card not too long ago, when we least expected it, from someone we do not know on a close basis at all.  It made me cry.  Tonight, when nothing seems to make sense, this card makes me remember how God is using us through this journey to touch other people’s lives.  Knowing that makes me feel better about “why.”