My Fight With FIBROIDS

I still remember the radiologist’s words after he did the ultrasound scan. Looking shocked, he exclaimed, ‘My God! Lady, where have you been? You have massive growths in your abdomen. They should have been removed before you conceived!’

I was too stunned to comprehend what he was saying. He told me that the growths were called fibroids and they can be dangerous during pregnancy. He advised that I needed ‘a really good doctor’ to monitor my condition. He referred me to the doctor currently attending to me.

I wish I had sought medical attention earlier because shortly the situation got out of hand. I had noticed some spotting, which became heavy bleeding. I was carrying twins and one of the twins expelled itself in a miscarriage. The other twin was still in the womb. The doctor explained that this can occur when there are twins with two amniotic sacs and two placentas which are completely separate-as in fraternal twins-so a placenta and its sac and contents can be expelled while the other is retained. Based in the same concept, though rarely, one foetus can die and become flattened, only to be discovered during delivery of the surviving twin. This is called foetus papyraceus, meaning the foetus looks ‘like paper’.

When I got married just over a year ago, in December 2005, one of the things I yearned for-seeing that I was fast approaching 30-was a baby. I remember going to a gynaecologist for a pap smear, a test carried out to detect cancer of the cervix or womb, just to check if everything was fine. The doctor confirmed that I was indeed fine. He advised me about the use of contraceptives, but I wasn’t keen on that discussion. I wanted to conceive immediately and have my babies before I turned 30.

I was a healthy person and had kept a low social profile, having grown up in a Christian home. I was what you might call naive, waiting for Prince Charming to come and sweep me off my feet, have a family and live happily ever after! I was a virgin when we wedded, so you can appreciate my anxiety for a good marriage and starting a family.

Just before my wedding I noticed that I was gaining weight. I had not engaged in any sexual activity, which would have suggested pregnancy, and I didn’t know what was going on. I was busy with the wedding arrangements and even busier still doing sit-ups to get rid of the tummy, but it simply got bigger. I outgrew my beautiful size. I thought, ‘Could it be age catching up with me?’

My friends predicted that if I was not careful I would end up a fat bride, which was not amusing as I was actually on diet for the big day! I surprised myself by doing some morning jogging; but my ‘pot’ and weight just kept increasing.

Nevertheless this condition did not deter me from enjoying my big day when it arrived.

I conceived soon after my wedding. I did a self-test in February 2006 after missing two periods, which confirmed I was pregnant. I immediately went to see a gynaecologist. What surprised me is that when she checked me she told me I was 12 weeks pregnant. That could not be true, I told her. She insisted that when she touched my uterus it felt like a nine to sixteen-week pregnancy for a first timer. But what was strange, she remarked, was that she found my tummy uneven and bulky. She advised me to go for an ultrasound scan ‘just to be sure’.

I stared at the radiologist as he explained why my tummy had all along been growing in size. Because I was pregnant, nothing much could be done. After losing the first twin I continued carrying the second one in pain. My uterus was constantly contracting and the fibroids got bigger. By March I was in agony and come April my waters broke prematurely and I lost the second twin! I actually went through full labour. After my waters broke I was induced to deliver the dead foetus. I saw it, with its well-formed features, and that image is etched on my mind. I told God, ‘I don’t know what to do! Why do I have those ‘things’ in my stomach that I never knew about?’ I had heard that fibroids were meant for 45 and 50-year olds: women who did not mind having a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). ‘God, I haven’t even had my first child and fibroids are killing my kids already!’

I became emotionally distraught. It was such a trying moment for me and what made it worse was that many of my friends did not know what I was suffering from, while others were speculating on the cause of the miscarriage. I felt bad that people did not understand me. They were trying to link what I was going through to punishment for something I had done: an abortion, rituals or using contraceptives.

When visitors came to see me in hospital I felt as though some were coming to ‘spy’ on me. Some would even suggestively ask me openly why I was going through miscarriages and yet that was my first pregnancy. I was discouraged, felt condemned and was unhappy when people did not believe me, when I told them that I had never used any contraceptives. I felt lonely and went into a depression. I vowed to find answers.

Luckily my husband understood me and knew firsthand that I had never indulged in pre-marital sex, and had never been pregnant…. let alone had an abortion. I had never used contraceptives either. His trust in me kept me going. That was all that mattered.

The gynaecologist I was seeing insisted surgery was the only option but I would hear none of that. ‘If the fibroids are big they make the uterus unstable’, he said. I enquired from him what I could do to stop them from growing. He explained that they tend to thrive when one has too much oestrogen. I also learned that oestrogen is found in soya and other foods.

I was newly wed-just over four months-and deeply in love. All this information confused me and I did not know how to handle my sex life. I was also lonely, emotionally unstable and needed to be close to my husband. I did not want to use contraceptives lest they made the fibroids worse, yet I needed to get back to my sexual life. You know what happens if you keep away from your man; you might drive him away and lose him. The doctor had also advised me not to attempt getting pregnant again before surgery. He believed the fibroids were the key cause of my miscarriage. I opted to have sex on ‘safe days’ while still debating on what to use.

Meanwhile, I consulted widely and went for a second and a third professional opinion on undergoing surgery. Most of the other doctors thought it was risky to have a uterine operation as I did not have a baby already. What if I never have a child? What if I bled and it became necessary to remove the entire uterus? Or what if by accident a vital part of the uterus was affected by the operation? End of babies!

To my surprise I found I was pregnant again! Nevertheless, I was happy because the pregnancy took away a lot of my sorrow and I vowed that I would face it. At first I kept it to myself. I did not tell anyone that I was pregnant again because I did not want to shock them.

Once pregnant, the nightmares started all over again. I began spotting, but this time I went to my doctor immediately I noticed it. He did not believe it when he learned that I had conceived again. He asked me, ‘Why are you going back there so fast?’ However, he assured me that this time he would be with me and I should stop worrying. He immediately put me on hormone treatment, progesterone, which sustains life in the uterus.

These drugs would support my pregnancy during the first 16 weeks. I was injected every week. At times the uterus would threaten to go into false labour and I would be admitted into hospital and the condition managed. I have gone through enough intravenous needles and spent enough time in hospital. My husband and I kept these on goings to ourselves.

The most interesting news is that I am expecting twins again! Maybe because my husband and I both have histories of twins in our respective families. Carrying the pregnancy with fibroids is painful, but I am managing well and I believe it is worth it.

The narrator delivered her twins safely.

PG MAY 07/28-29