Good Morning Erin,
I woke up this morning to find a text from my sister telling me that you were on news talking about Essure Coils. Essure Coils have forever changed my life story.
I told my family 4 years ago, when my nightmare started, that some day we would see a national report on television about how horrific these coils are! My story is long, but I will try and summarize it for you. I am a 47-year-old mother of a ten-year-old daughter and wife. I have always had a career.
August 4, 2010-I went in for Essure Coils. My doctor was very excited that she could now preform this procedure combined with NovaSure (a week later) in the office. I was told these two procures will work together and give you the same result as a hysterectomy. Yes, and they can do them both in the office with just a little procedure. Wow. Great! No surgery. No Hospital.
Not so. After the procedure I started experiencing lots of pain. After many calls and complaints of pain, I was given antibiotics and told I probably had an infection and my body had been through a lot, rest. At the end of October 2010 I called, insisting that something was wrong, and I needed an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed the left coil had dropped into my uterus. They removed that in office. Yes, that was fun. Now I am left with one coil. So I now I have one coil and no results from the NovaSure.
Well, that is only the beginning. I continued to have pain on my right side. The pain had gotten so bad that I could not bend or do anything that had any hip flexion. Take care of our child, drive, bend, work, etc. I could only stand up straight. The pain was now is in my back, groin area and pulsing down my leg. I continued to call the doctor, and am told, “It could not be the coils, because the right one is fine!”
My body started to shut down and I started to lose weight and get very sick. I had severe pain, diarrhea and nausea. I called the office again and they thought I might have the flu and sent me away. We had a trip to New York approaching for the holidays. Unfortunately, I thought that something was seriously wrong and I was very concerned that I could not travel. I called again and insisted on another ultrasound. They hesitated and I had to cry and beg them to see me and do the ultrasound. I went in the doctor checked me out and said I was fine. I started to cry and asked if they would please do the ultrasound. She finally agreed! While the tech was doing the test, she asked me where the coils are supposed to be. I told her in the fallopian tube. She went, ‘oh, not partially in the uterus?’ Wow. Really? Not only was the right coil partially stuck in the tube and the uterus, IT WAS BENT AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE. I asked to see the pictures of the last ultrasound and you could actually see the right coil coming out of the tube. This was NOT addressed at that time. If it was, I might have been able to have had the right coil removed before it bent and reeked havoc on my body.
I was sent away with a bottle of percocet and a hysterectomy was scheduled for December 2010. They did not seem to think it was an emergency. So, I took the percocet like they recommended, and we go to New York on our family holiday. Once in New York, I started to get sicker and sicker. My husband wanted me to be admitted to a hospital in New York. I just wanted to go home. It felt like the coil had punctured my colon. Something was wrong. We came back to Denver and I called Dr. Kolrud and told her that I thought that I should have an abdominal CT scan ASAP. She agreed. Thank god.
I had the scan, and in summary, my insides were rebelling against a foreign object! I had severe inflammation, and other negative things were going on internally due to what had become chronic inflammation. Dr. Kolrud, OBGYN, wanted to cancel my scheduled hysterectomy, and thought that I had a simple gastro infection! I called my GP and she got involved and called Dr. Kolrud and told her she needed to get this COIL OUT.
And my life with Chronic Pain started…
Since the hysterectomy I have worked with pain specialists, pelvic pain specialists and many, many other medical specialists. I have been a patient at University Hospital pelvic pain clinic, here in Denver. Additionally, I have had more injections and invasive treatments, surgeries and therapy’s than one should have to endure. All in search of pain relief.
Never giving up, I started researching spinal simulators being used for chronic pain. I had a spinal stimulator put in last year. It does reduce the pain a bit, and I can seem to get through the day a little less stressed and pained. However, it is clearly not the smoking gun and I am still in pain 24/7 relying on medication to get through the day.
Coming to terms that this is the rest of my life is really scary. I try not thinking about it too much because then I wonder how long can I go on feeling like this! I wonder about how this pain is taking a toll on my life, long term. Everyday is a struggle, yet I am committed to keeping a positive outlook.
My life with chronic pain has affected my family, my job, my whole entire life, and my future! I think the worst is seeing that my SPARK has been taken from me.
I did try to send this to an attorney the first year and they would not consider it. I was so sick that I could not fight that fight. I chose to fight for my heath. You must be your own advocate. I wish I would have pursued legal action, but it is hard when you are so sick.
These coils must be taken off the market. Seeing your piece on the news is comforting, and validates the feeling that I am not alone or crazy. I will find the strength now to help in any way that may help others not go through what I experience daily. Thank you so very much for listening. Thank you so very much for bringing this to the public.