Went for tests yesterday

[trailerparkmedic]

Ultrasound is indelibly associated with "let's look at Baby!"
However. I know that it's used for soft-tissue viewing in general, and have heard it used in cases looking at livers, pancreases, stomachs, and more.
I'd still be freaking out tho.
EDIT: isn't the fix for ectopic pregnancy "removal of site"? >_> ie surgery?

Yes, ultrasounds are used to look at a variety of organs, not just uteruses (uteri?).

An ectopic pregnancy below so many weeks can sometimes be treated with a medication that ends the pregnancy. Above so many weeks or with certain criteria requires surgery. It's not removal of all of the female reproductive system, just a localized area (almost always a fallopian tube).

Pagentmama, have you heard anything new? Hope all is well.

[pageantmama]

Could you use a home pregnancy test? Would that work?

A home pregnancy test will not always work because with an ectopic you may not be making enough of the hormone since it is not in your uterus. Or something like that. It even says on the instructions that it may show a false neg for an ectopic. It did on the expensive one I bought anyway. I am not sure about the cheaper ones I got. * Edited because I just read a response that says otherwise. Hmmm, even the doctor said that is why she was doing bloodwork because a urine test will not always show ectopic pregnancies.

Anyway, I am scheduled for an ultrasound so hopefully it will just be cysts blocking something. I did find out that if it is an ectopic that there are medications if I am not too far, one being chemotherapy into the place the embryo is. I will post an update after the ultrasound! I still feel like if I had insurance I would already know what was going on though It sucks not being able to afford it and having to jump through all these hoops to find something out.

[Sapphire Silk]

Ultrasound is indelibly associated with "let's look at Baby!"
However. I know that it's used for soft-tissue viewing in general, and have heard it used in cases looking at livers, pancreases, stomachs, and more.
I'd still be freaking out tho.
EDIT: isn't the fix for ectopic pregnancy "removal of site"? >_> ie surgery?

Depends on where the ectopic is, and what kind. Usually it's the fallopian tubes, but pregnancies that implant on the ovaries, or on the cervix are also ectopic pregnancies. But they're usually not sustainable. Sometimes drugs are used to end the pregnancy, sometimes surgery. There are a lot of factors involved: length of the pregnancy and where it is being two prime ones.

I had to have a kidney and pelvic ultrasound done to work out whether I had a simple or complex UTI. Quite interesting....until I got to the point where she asked me how far along in my menstrual cycle I was!

This is going to be interesting if I need another one.... (I'm on the Implanon so my bleeding patterns are all over the place)

I find that interesting. That's out of my area of expertise; I'm not sure why that would matter, though I'm sure there is a reason.

[FenigDurak]

However. I know that it's used for soft-tissue viewing in general, and have heard it used in cases looking at livers, pancreases, stomachs, and more.

Indeed! The wider, fan shaped reader is the one swooshed over the tummy. The long, thin wand is more of an "inserted" reader. Used most frequently to view the uterus, ovaries and other abdominal organs, but it can also be used to amuse interns attempting to view my tonsils while my (then) boyfriend balks at said interns ability ( and boyfriends lack of ability) to get me to "fellate" the wand.

Good luck, Pageantmama. I'm rooting for a cyst.

[fireheart]

I find that interesting. That's out of my area of expertise; I'm not sure why that would matter, though I'm sure there is a reason.

According to the ultrasound results (I still have the CD somewhere...a very nice gift from the ultrasound techs ) I have a retroverted uterus, although according to the free nurse at the free health clinic when I had a pap smear, it's not so....

I think that's why she asked, because apparaently there's a link somewhere between retroverted uteruses and UTI's.


http://www.womens-health.co.uk/retrover.asp

[AccountingDrone]

Hmm. There is a tubal procedure that involves what is essentially a rubber band. However, I don't think it's in use any more.

Best wishes on the test; hope it's just a strained ligament.

There was, that is what I had, and then got preggers 10 years later
[I had cancer, an operation to remove it and picked up a proteus mirabilis infection in my lower abdomen that made the tube swell up, pop the rubber band and pop the scar plug. A seriously *rare* happening. When they went in to fix it they cut, removed and cauterized the little stubby tube ends.]

I hope it is just an adhesion [you are still pumping out the hormones that cause the endometrium to deposit, and tissues swell and relax in response, and surgical procedures can cause adhesions that feel odd inside ranging from twinges to outright pain] and nothing serious ... and if it is ectopic that you have caught it in time.