Treating miscarriage
I fully understand that just as driving a car or crossing the road carries a slight risk of death from road trauma, all pelvic surgery, although usually safe, carries a small risk of at worst:
1 — Pelvic organ unintended injury.
2 — Subsequent operations.
3 — Emergency removal of an ovary.
4 — Complication and Death.
The above was the consent form my wife had to acknowledge and sign before her Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) surgical treatment, it’s the surgical treatment of miscarriage where the doctor inserts a spoon-shaped instrument to removes uterine tissue.
Despite the risk of the surgery, having this option maybe a blessing. Without it we would have two options:
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A: Wait for the body to pass the pregnancy tissue naturally , this could take weeks and weeks and increase the risk of infection.
Or.
B: Use a Medicine to speed up the process of passing the pregnancy tissue, we opted for this option at the last miscarriage, and it caused us an additional grief. Not only caused my wife a heavy bleeding, but also it didn’t pass all pregnancy tissue, and weeks later the pregnancy hormones were still high, and we had to do the procedure so that the uterus is empty.
Both options A and B require time that we may or may not have if we want to try again before my wife is 40 and sure enough cause additional pain. As a result, and understanding the associated risk , my wife decided to cut the pain short and do the D&C surgical treatment.
It’s an unofficial long weekend in Melbourne, Tuesday is a public holiday (Melbourne Cup Day) and most people have taken Monday off to enjoy a 4 day long weekend. I also had to take the Monday off , not to enjoy anything, but to drive my wife to the surgery and to be her carer for the 48 hours to follow.
She did it at The Frances Perry House, a fully accredited obstetric and surgical private hospital situated close to Melbourne CBD. Our Nurse Lennon and our Dr R.L were compassionate and provided wonderful care.
Few hours later my wife was discharged, procedure went well with no complications, and we booked a follow up appointment in 3 weeks.
On the way home, driving at the last turn before reaching, a song came up on the radio that said “don’t cry” , it was an invitation for both my wife and I to start crying , Marking the end of a beautiful 12 week pregnancy , and the start of a period of worry and anxiety, mixed with some hope of being able to try again soon.
