On October 25, 2012, I had the Essure procedure. I went to hospital, was sedated and the procedure itself seemed pain free. By the third day I felt good. I went for my usual walk, did laundry, climbed stairs, I just seemed to be back to normal. However, that night I started getting sharp shooting pains in my ovary/hip area. I went to bed assuming I had overdone it. The next day I spent laying on the couch, sitting up, moving around, lying still, trying anything I could to get rid of the pain. Sometimes it was discomfort and sometimes it hurt so bad I had to breathe through it like contractions. By the afternoon my abdomen started to hurt. I went back to work the next day just trying to get over it and through it. The pain only got worse, so I called the doctor the next day. She told me to give it a couple more days. I called two days later, she told me to take antacids. Two weeks after my procedure, and tired and sick I went to see my GP. He ran tests that revealed I had an infection in my abdominal cavity and that one of the coils was missing. He contacted the obgyn who placed the implants to review the x-ray. She concurred that it was gone and took me in for a vaginal ultrasound to try to locate the coil. She could not find anything with the ultrasound, so she brought in a colleague who said the majority of the coil was out, but maybe there was enough still in the tube to scar. So they sent me on my way with antiboitics and painkillers. PLEASE NOTE, the obgyn made a point to tell me she was just sure my infection and pain was in no way related to the Essure procedure. That night I rushed to the emergency room with a lump and swelling on the left side of my face and shortness of breath and numbness. Five hours later and too many tests to count, they sent me home as they couldn’t find a cause.
Over the last three months I have continued to suffer and regret the Essure decision more than most can imagine. I have had my hips lock up in the middle of my daily walk, to the point my husband has had to come pick me up and take me home. My 40th birthday party to Vegas was accompanied by shots of liquid antacid so I could continue to function. I have had many nights that severe pain woke me and I couldn’t move, so I would just lay there and pray it would pass. And where am I today? On January 25th I had my dye test. One coil is missing (even though they said it was still there) and the other hasn’t scarred enough to block the contrast. And what does the obgyn say? I don’t know, because she has not returned my calls.
At this point I don’t know if I would allow removal because I am afraid of what might happen. But on the other hand, I am afraid of what will happen if I leave them in. I DO NEED to find the missing coil but am not sure what doctor I wouldn’t even approach with the idea of taking them out.
Prior to this debacle, I had only been hospitalized twice for childbirth. (Which I did both times without epidurals) I know what pain is and I was so frustrated when the obgyn blew me off and told me it was unrelated. Common sense tells you it is related! I just want this to be over, I want my health back and I want someone to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the damage Essure is doing to healthy bodies.