Story about Gestational trophoblastic disease .

My ever changing life

Jan 28, 2016

By: Nancy


I was a 48 year old widow who at the time thought she was going to begin her new life with her fiance'.  In March 2013 I began a nightmare that I never ever wanted to experience in my life.  The feelings of what my late husband felt when he was dealing with his illness all came back and just took over my body and soul.  I didn't know what was wrong with me, I really thought that I was going through menopause.  The symptoms were similar and all I kept thinking and praying that it was menopause.  The bleeding wouldn't stop, from Feb. 4th to March 20th.  Feeling so tired, constant headaches, heartburn, my stomach growing everyday and just feeling sick to my stomach made me realize that something was not right.  I spoke to my doctor and explained to him what was happening and he told me to come in to do some blood work.  I didn't even imagine what was about to happen that would change my world again.  The next day I received a call from my Doctor and he told me over the phone that I had a miscarriage, my heart was in a million pieces.  All I could do was cry.  I didn't want anymore children.  All my children were grown and I am grandmother of 3, this couldn't be happening I told him.  I didn't even want to hear anymore from him.  But he has been through so much with me and he knew my life story, I knew he felt bad telling me this.  He said that I needed to come in and meet with the Gynecologist.  The next day I met with the Gynecologist and he gave me a full examine.  A urine test and ultra sound was done to see if I was truly pregnant.  He came back to see me and said that I was not pregnant but that I had a molar pregnancy.  I looked at him and said what?????  What the heck is that?  I never even heard of this.  He explained to me that I needed to have another ultra sound done and that he would schedule it with the technician.  He took me off of work for approx. 2 weeks.  During this time I had been dropping blood clots the size of an orange left and right.  Tampons would not stay in and my pads were soaked through.  I was constantly changing my clothes and taking showers all day long.  It felt better to just lay on the couch and not move.  I spent that week on the couch driving myself crazy just staying home not being able to get out and do things.  Since my late husbands death I became so independent and so use to getting up and going whenever I wanted to, now I was confined to this couch that my late husband use to sit when he was ill and all it did was make me cry.  All I could think about was my late husband and what he went through.  It was so heartbreaking for me.  I said to myself "Now I know exactly how Ruben felt" tears would not stop.  I finally decided to ask my Fiance' if I could go over and sleep at his house because I couldn't sleep at my house and I was so exhausted.  On March 10th I went to his house with my overnight bag in hand and drove to his house.  When I got to his place he had dinner waiting for me.  I could barely eat, or put anything in my tummy.  I always felt full, I took probably about 4 bites and I was full.  I finally went to bed around 8:30 pm and fell asleep.  I woke up around 10:00 pm because I could feel something in my stomach.  Sure enough once my feet hit the floor a blood clot came out of me as well of gushing blood.  Ran to the restroom jumped in the shower and rinsed off.  Changed my clothes went to lay on the couch because I didn't want to wake up or disturb my fiance'.  Fell back asleep and then woke up at 1:04 pm and again a blood clot the size of grapefruit came out and dropped to the floor.  Here I go again to the restroom to take another shower and change again.  By this time I was feeling so nausea and weak I could barely make it back to the couch.  But I managed to.  You would have thought that I should have been waking up my fiance' to take me to the hospital.  But no stubborn as I am, I didn't until about 4:15 am another blood clot this time the size of a melon came out and I just sat on the toilet barely lifting my head because I was so weak at this point.  Barely able to speak, I woke up my fiance' and told him that he needed to take me to the emergency.  We drove to the Hospital and yet more of my feelings from the past surfaced.  On March 10th 2009 I buried my late husband and I was on my way to the very same hospital that the ambulance brought him to.  So my emotions were all over the place.  I was admitted to the hospital and was told that I needed to have a blood transfusion.  My mind was so clogged up, couldn't think straight or even talk right.  My family was there with me, my daughters, my parents and sisters.  Holding my hand the whole time was my fiance'.  He stood by me through all this and didn't leave my side.  He was truly my Hero!  While I was laying on the bed, I felt something coming happening and that's when a bag of like looking grapes came out of me and all I could hear was yup she has a molar pregnancy alright.  I was then told that I had to be released because I needed to go and see an oncologist who would perform the DNC and possible hysterectomy.  I was released on Monday the very next day and had an appt with the Oncologist the next day Tues.  When I went to see the Oncologist he explained everything to me and gave me a better understanding what was happening.  I was admitted again back in the hospital and was told that I need to have the DNC but the hysterectomy may not happen because my uterus was enlarged.  It was 19 x 8 x 2, WOW I said that was way to big, shouldn't it be the size of your fist?  I did not have the DNC until Thursday at 1:00am in the morning.  All my family was there to support me and my fiance' still there by my side.  When I woke up I wanted to know if they had done the hysterectomy and I was told no they were not able to do it.  They were afraid that if they did the hysterectomy that I could possibly bleed to death on the table.  I would be scheduled for one in the future once the the uterus goes back to regular size.  I was released from the hospital the next day.  I was still bleeding and at this point was so tired of bleeding.  I asked the doctor if I would still keep on bleeding and he said that I will and that I may have more bleeding but that if I begin to hemorrhage to call him as soon as possible.  I stopped bleeding on March 20th.  I was relieved but not fully convinced that I was through with worrying.  I was told that my HCG levels were really high and that I needed to do bloodwork on a weekly basis.  I was still terrified because the fact remained that cancer can still show up.  Having weekly draws always made my stomach turn because I was so worried about the outcome, is it Cancer?????  Cancer hung over my head for months, but 4 months later I was scheduled to have my hysterectomy at the end of the month.  I didn't have any major bleeding, and my HCG levels were slowly going down, thank GOD but I still had major cramping.  The hysterectomy was a success but unfortunatly they had found a cyst hiding behind my uterus that would come out to be pre-cancerous.  SCARY!!!!  I had really good care during my time through this and the Doctors that I had were very cautious and careful all the way.  I had to keep up with the blood work for another 6 months after the hysterectomy and everytime it came back it was cleared!!!  No cancer and no more bleeding!!!!!  HOORAY!!!!
I was truly excited for a whole new life ahead of me because I would marry my first puppy love.  You see my fiance' is my first boyfriend when I was 13 years old.  He was the neighborhood boy down the street where I grew up.  But life happened and drove us to different paths.  After my late husband passed away, my Fiance' was sent down my road again.  FULL CIRCLE!  We are got married on September 21, 2013 and I am looking forward to this new beautiful life.  I have been through alot but I know in my heart that I can get through this and that I will come out stronger than ever.  I understand how important this molar pregnancy was but with faith in my right hand and courage in my left, I was able to get through it as a WARRIOR!!!  
 
 

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