Essure procedure done today

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2004
Essure procedure done today
4
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 5:26pm

I had the Essure procedure today and wanted to share my experience.

My husband drove me to the doctor’s office at 9AM. I was given an oral Valium and a intramuscular shot of Toradol (felt like a bee sting) – a muscle relaxant – in my right hip. Ten minutes later, I was asked to disrobe from the waist down and place a paper drape over my lower body. I got on the table and put my feet in the stirrups (pap smear flashbacks). The RN put a blood pressure cuff on my arm and it remained there during the entire procedure. The doctor explained that he’d do a anesthestic block of my pelvis region by giving me several shots in my cervix. He inserted the speculum, the RN held onto my hand and the first shot felt like a sharp sting. I didn’t feel the subsequent shots. He removed the speculum, I removed my feet from the stirrups and slid higher up on the table. They told me it would take 30 minutes for the block to take effect.

The RN gave me a CD w/ headphones and an instrumental CD. They tilted the table back so that I was lying down and turned the lights down. The RN checked in on me several times and when the 30 minutes was up, the doctor returned to the room. He explained that he would do some agressive tugging on my cervix to see if the block had taken effect. They re-inserted the speculum and I felt the presence of the speculum and a little tug, but nothing more. He explained that he was tugging VERY hard and since I felt almost nothing, the block had worked and they were ready to start the procedure.

This part wasn’t explained fully, but apparently hot water was inserted into my uterus in order to ‘inflate’ it so the scope could take better pictures. Some of the hot water (it must have been scalding) dripped onto my inner thigh and it was truly the most painful part of the procedure. The monitor was tilted toward me and the doctor must have passed the scope through my cervix into my uterus because I started seeing my insides on the monitor almost immediately. I was fascinated by what was on the monitor and continued to watch throughout the entire procedure. The view of my uterus was sort of “underwater-ish”, from the injected water, I guess. The scope moved along the lining of my uterus and you could see the fleshy, almost mucus-like tissue along the walls. A few transluscent pieces of tissue were floating about and I even saw a few clusters of what looked like drops of blood. In anticipation of the procedure, the doctor put me on birth control pills for 6 weeks prior. Besides preventing pregnancy, BC pills thin the lining of the uterus and the doctor explained that the scope would be more effective if the uterine wall was as thin as possible.

As he continued with the scope, he found my right Fallopian tube. It looked like a darkened spot, like a perfectly round entrance to a cave. He continued with the scope until he found the left tube which looked similar. The doctor explained that they prefer to start the procedure on the more difficult tube, but that my tubes appeared equally without problem, so they started with the left. The scope approached the tube and the Essure device (like a tiny spring) appeared from nowhere. Perhaps it was retracted inside the scope until now. The spring was encapsulated in a plastic guide. The device was inserted into my left tube and I felt it go in! It wasn’t painful, just a little sore and I could definitely feel it being pushed into the tube. After guiding it in, the doctor retracted the scope a little and the plastic guide retracted as well, leaving behind the spring, partially inserted into the tube and partially “hanging out”. The doctor announced that the placement was perfect. If I remember correctly, 3-7 'curves' of the spring should be inside your Fallopian tube for the placement to be ideal. He said that it was a ‘5’, which is right in the middle of where it should be.

The doctor went on to the right Fallopian tube, and I could still feel pressure or soreness on my left side. He repeated the procedure on the right side and I didn’t feel a thing on the right. He announced his placement on the right side as a ‘3’, which is still within the ideal range.

The nurse told me it was all done and they must have removed the scope mere seconds later. The speculum was removed and I was allowed to slide up and take my feet out of the stirrups. I thanked the RN’s for their great bedside manner. The doctor told me he was pleased with the way things went and he thanked me for being an easy patient. I thanked him for doing such a good job and he left the room. The nurse asked me to rest for about 10 minutes and left the room. She came back in 10 minutes and asked me how I felt. I felt fine and she waited for me to stand up to make sure I was steady on my feet, which I was. She gave me a sanitary napkin to wear since discharge and spotting are normal for the first few days. She left, I got dressed and exited the room. She had a prescription for an antibiotic for me, “since there was a foreign object inside you today” as well as a prescription for some Vicodin tablets, to be filled only if I felt I needed it. They gave me a card with some information about the Essure device (lot #, date inserted), etc. and I’m supposed to keep it in my wallet at all times, in case of emergency and/or to notify future physicians that I have the Essure implants.

She told me to rest today and take it easy this weekend. She told me I’d probably have some cramping and to take Ibuprofen (or fill the Vicodin Rx) for that. I asked about intercourse and she said to hold off for a few days.

My husband drove me home, we stopped at the pharmacy and I took my first antibiotic pill. Once home, I watched TV for a little bit. My husband made me some scrambled eggs for lunch, but once I had plated it up and started to eat, I had lost my appetite. I was feeling bloated and very sore and crampy, especially on the left side. I took 3 Advil tablets, my husband got out the heating pad and I slept for about 2 hours. I’ve been awake since and still feel bloated and a little sore in my abdomen. I’m having some discharge which is mostly watery mixed with some tissue and a slight amount of blood. I feel like I have a bit of a temperature, but it’s also 90 degrees today where I live and the AC in our older home isn’t the greatest. I’ll continue to watch my temperature, though.

If you have any questions I can answer....ask away!

Note: For those of you not familiar with Essure, it’s important to know that I’m not sterile today. My body will develop scar tissue around the Essure device, which will ultimately cause a complete blockage in my Fallopian tubes. That healing / scarring process should take 3 months. In November, I’ll have an HSG (an ultrasound using contrast dye) to ensure that my tubes are blocked. I’ll continue to use birth control (my usual method is a cervical cap) in the coming months and I look forward to the HSG and hearing that the procedure was a success!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 6:10pm

Hi heidigsd, welcome back!


      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2004
Sun, 01-21-2007 - 4:53pm

I've been meaning to post a f/up about Essure and my experience, so here goes.

I had my HSG test the first week in December to see if the procedure was a success, which it was! I felt/feel very relieved and am ever thankful for boards like this where I found out about this procedure as an available and FDA approved source of permanent BC.
As of today, I have no problems or side effects.

I was more worried about the HSG than I was about the in-office Essure procedure. My doc explained that HSG's done for fertility are normally done more agressively than HSG's performed to verify sterlization. He explained that both procedures involve dye being injected into the uterus. The dye flows into the Fallopian tubes and if it "hits" the Essure implants and "stops", then the procedure is successful in that your tubes are successfully sealed with the implant and the scar tissue that developed. When HSG's are done for infertility purposes, the doctor will usually try to inject the dye somewhat forcefully in hopes that if your infertility problem is caused by natural tubal blockage, the force of the dye injected into your uterus and tubes may help to clear the blockage. HSG's done for infertility purposes are therefore done more forcefully and are often more painful and result in more cramping than an HSG done to determine the success of the Essure procedure. With Essure, your tubes are purposefully blocked, so the dye is therefore injected much more slowly and less forcefully because it is NOT the purpose of the procedure to "unblock" your tubes, but rather for the dye to flow gently into your tubes to see if it flows past the inserts and scar tissue blockage or if it "stops".

I went to the local hospital and my doctor met me there. With the helps of radiology assistants, he did the HSG procedure himself. I wasn't given any sedative or anything in advance for the pain...but having read that HSG's can be somewhat uncomfortable, I took 800 mg of Ibuprofen about 45 minutes prior to the procedure.

The procedure was done in about 5 minutes total. I had absolutely no pain or discomfort and no cramping or any trouble of any kind afterwards. I had actually taken the rest of the afternoon off of work, and felt guilty for having done so since there was no need for me to be off. I could have easily returned to work because I felt completely fine after the procedure. I drove by myself home after the procedure.

My doc showed me a photo of the dye in my uterus and you could clearly see where it has "stopped" near the opening of both tubes. He pronounced the procedure a success and told me to come back in a year for my annual Well Woman exam.

I had been using a barrier method (Cervical cap) prior to the procedure and I just stopped using it all together starting immediately after the procedure. My DH & I had sex about 48 hours after the HSG with no trouble/no pain/no discomfort at all. It was so great having sex without my cap!

If I can answer any questions, feel free to contact me.
--heidigsd

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sun, 01-21-2007 - 8:06pm

Hi hon, welcome back!


      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-18-2003
Mon, 01-22-2007 - 8:39pm

Thank you for giving an update. I had just come into the message boards looking for anyone who has had the Essure procedure done so I can get some non-biased information on the procedure.

I am considering this over TL since I have had multiple abdominal surgeries and do not want to go through another one. I had an ovarian cyst removed back in 1993, it started out by laproscopy, but since the cyst was inside the ovary, the doctor had to make an incision just below my bikini line to remove the cyst. My muscles never fully regained from that one and I was out for 6 weeks. When I finally got pregnant in 2002, I had an emergency c-section since I wouldn't dialate past 5cm. That incision was higher and smaller than the previous one and used staples to close. It healed much faster and better and I was able to move around after 2 weeks like I never had any surgery. I do believe that since my first recovery was very painful, this one was a breeze since I already knew what to expect and my stomach muscles were also stretched from the baby making recovery much less painful. I think that if I try to have another laproscopy, the same mess will happen with another incision, and I don't want to try that again. I am 38yo and don't heal as quickly as I used to! LOL.

I have had the dye injected to check for blockage back in March or April of 2001, to see if that may have been the reason for no conception for the past 10 years. It was uncomfortable during the procedure, and the cramps were horrible for the remainder of the day (then again I get horrible cramps every month anyway). I am glad to report that the following June, I found out I was pregnant and have a beautiful son! I am also glad to hear that it won't be as painful when they check for the blockage after Essure.

I hope that you will keep in touch with me, as I am going to set up a consult with my doctor who already told me about the procedure and that I do qualify. I will also post another post to let others know about my experiences so that I may help others with their decisions.

Thank you again!

Gina