Last Sunday we headed up to Orlando for our meeting with a recommended Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor at Winnie Palmer Hospital on Tuesday. We decided to bring the girl's with us and to try to make the best out of the trip! While we couldn't get to Disney, the girl's had a blast at the ICE exhibit at Gaylord Palms, where we stayed for two nights. The girl's don't know what is going on and I have just been trying to keep a sense of normalcy for them as much as possible. Luckily, they are young enough still where they don't ask questions.
Tuesday, our appointment was at 7:30am and I am pretty sure I slept for about 2 hours the whole night. Winnie Palmer is definitely an impressive facility and feels more like a hotel when you enter than a hospital. I underwent an extensive ultrasound with Dr. Gregory Locksmith and it was very clear he was not going to rush and walked us through as he examined my placenta's attachment. What he found was that the placenta has embedded and almost replaced the wall of my uterus over the previous c-section scars and in that area is considered to be placenta increta (which is more severe than accreta), however, he did note the majority of the area outside my previous scar shows the uterine attachment to be normal. He was also able to confirm that he did not see any bladder involvement during the ultrasound (which is great news). The recommendation of delivery and immediate hysterectomy is the current plan to handle and reduce the risk of hemorrhage.
We than discussed the protocol for patients with accreta at Winnie Palmer. Dr. Locksmith, while he would not take part in the actual delivery is still part of the team of interdisciplinary doctors that manage my case and plan out the delivery. There would be no required two week inpatient stay, as is protocol for Miami and they try to avoid delivery of the baby before 35 weeks, as most babies will then not require a long NICU stay, if any. The negative is that anesthesia will still require the delivery and surgery to be done under general, which has been my biggest fear this entire time. It is very hard to let go of not being present during the birth of my son and I am constantly battling with it. I understand and agree that my safety is priority number one but it just sucks....really sucks!
Based on our two options we have decided to deliver in Orlando at Winnie Palmer. I felt as though because they are very Mommy/ Baby focused they really work to personalize the care of their patients, even in cases like mine, where the delivery is scary and could be life threatening. While I will not be required to be admitted to the hospital for a period of time before delivery, the doctor recommends I relocate up to Orlando after the New Year. Executing this plan, finding somewhere to stay and filling my schedule with doctors appointments has become a welcome distraction for my mind.
The first week in January, my Mom and I will head up to Orlando and leave the girl's and Marc back home while I spend the next couple of weeks meeting with doctors and riding out the rest of my pregnancy. At times I feel as though I am serving a bit of a prison sentence, but I am doing my best to and try to find ways to enjoy the next 6 weeks. It will be hard being away from my family, even just the few hour distance, but should there be an emergency as my delivery date gets closer, I need to be within minutes of the hospital. As the date (unknown, but expected to be the week of January 21st) approaches Marc and the girl's will join us, followed by my amazing Step-Sister, Dad and Step-Mom. I look forward to us all being to together...it has been all their love and support that helps get me through each day.
To read my previous posts and learn more about Placenta Accreta, click the arrow button at the bottom of this page.
No comments:
Post a Comment