Friday, May 15, 2009

Suspect #3: Something Else?

All I can look at here is my own case and what I learned from the woman in Texas who lost 4 babies to cord torsion. She said she's had no health problems herself, pelvic or otherwise, while I have a long history of gynecological problems. I don't think my pelvic problems caused by babies' deaths, but for the sake of being thorough, I will list the facts of the case:

  • I have endometriosis, discovered at surgery in 2008 (after my two losses). It does not seem to be widespread and only causes pain about one in four cycles.
  • I have a history of cysts. The first in 2001 was a benign serous cystadenoma (a huge one at 10") originating from the right broad ligament. This obviously required major surgery, but I was told it was unlikely to cause long-term problems. Because the fallopian tube was stretched around the cyst it was badly damaged, but was not removed during that surgery in hopes it would recover for reproductive purposes. However, it caused years of intermittent pain and was removed in 2008 along with the right ovary.
This cyst is the only thing in my medical history, other than my late pregnancy losses, that could be considered unusual or rare. Both endometriosis and functional cysts are very common. Endo may cause a higher risk of early pregnancy loss (presumably because of hormone problems), and both conditions may in some cases contribute to infertility, but neither is associated with late pregnancy loss.
  • I'd always been able to get pregnant easily until early 2008 (so this is after both losses) when I began getting frequent cysts on the left ovary, three of which have reached a size of 4 centimeters or greater. The first one was found during surgery. I can't get any straight answers from a doctor about why this is happening, but I suspect that the follicle generated each cycle just doesn't rupture and release the egg (LUFS - Luteinized Unruptured Follicle Syndrome), which would explain the infertility. When trying to conceive naturally, I use the ovulation predictor tests. They are never positive, but I do get a thermal shift. No LH surge = no ovulation = no pregnancy. One hypothesis put forward about LUFS is that it could be caused by severe chronic stress. Hmmm...
  • I have no other health issues besides the endometriosis and cysts, which ironically would both be shut down, at least temporarily, if I got pregnant and had a baby!
  • I don't smoke, do drugs, or drink alcohol and never have. I eat a healty diet, though I do have a weakness for chocolate, especially when I'm depressed which obviously has been A LOT the past few years. Nevertheless, I am neither overweight nor underweight. I exercise regularly - I find it helps with the depression. I'm 33 years old. Race - Caucasian.
  • Uterine problems (such as malformation, fibroids, and Asherman Syndrome) have been ruled out by thorough internal (HSG and sonohystogram) and external inspection (at surgery).

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