My name is Kristina Pelfree. I am a 30 year old mother of four absolutely beautiful girls. I have a 10, 5, 4, and 3 year old daughters. After having my 3 year old I sat down with my doctor to discuss my birth control options. She proposed Essure, and I was very unsure. I told her I would go home, discuss with my husband and would reschedule my appointment when I had made my decision. I then went back and expressed my concerns to my doctor. She made me feel confident that as they were a religious facility that this was the least inevasive procedure without having to have a procedure that they would not even perform because of THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Being a medicaid recipient time was running out and my options were very slim. I had the essure procedure done. The procedure itself seemed to be very painless. After having the procedure I started to notice that my everyday activities became more and more painful. My doctor stated that it was, ‘Just my bodies way of adjusting to the foreign object inside the fallopian tubes, and the pain would eventually subside.’ While prescribing me different pain medications and just writing me off. This continued on for a year and eight months. Many different pain medications with no resolve and always just writing me off. I experienced excruciating pain in my abdomen and lower back. She continued to just prescribe me different narcotic pain meds for A WHOLE YEAR AND EIGHT MONTHS, never once offering a diagnostic procedure to make sure there was nothing wrong even after begging her and numerous trips to the er with no diagnostics. I, at a year and eight months found out I was pregnant. I called her furious, how could this be, why is there still pain with no resolve, why are you ignoring my cries for help. Now I am pregnant. She said,’ This cannot be. Come in for an ultrasound.’ Sure as could be I was VERY PREGNANT and almost 3 months with no fetal pole and was told I would have to have a D & C. Still no diagnostic procedure to see where the excruciating pain was coming from. After the D & C she stated we would, ‘Write this off as a nickel allergy so we can go in and remove the fallopian tubes since the Essure was the cause of the pain. ‘ Well, I will have you know I am not the least bit allergic to nickel but at this point I am desperate. The last year and a half has been a nightmare, I can’t bear the pain anymore and I have now lost what was the making of a real human being. They scheduled my salpingectomy with no diagnostics. I had my tubes removed a month after the D & C. Still in excruciating pain the whole entire time. After my surgery my doctor greeted my husband in the waiting room to let him know the surgery went well and I was in recovery. Then she also apologized to him and informed him that upon removing the first tube the Essure was still in place and no noted inflammation. Upon removing the second tube it appeared to be fine until she turned it over and the Essure had punctured the fallopian tube and was almost completely erroded through the back. She continued to tell my husband how truly sorry she was and that this could have happened to anyone. Yes this is true, it could have been anyone. But mentally and physically this was excruciating and just as excruciating as all the pain I endured, the loss of a baby, the countless nights I layed in bed and cried myself to sleep. The essure was a nightmare. It scares me that for a year and eight months this Essure could have been sticking out of my fallopian tube. She still to this day has done no further testing to make sure there was no damage incurred from the nickel insert sticking out of the tube. I still to this day pray that NO WOMAN should ever go what I have been through.