Mirena, gone missing !!

Ok so this isn't about me, but a gf of mine. She's not long had her 3rd baby and went in and got the Mirena fitted. All was going fine and she was happy with it. Didn't have the break through bleeding or anything like that.

So this morning I am chatting with her and she tells me that she has to go in for a scan, she had been having a lot of cramps and pain on her right side. She went to the Dr and he did an internal. He could not locate her Mirena.So in she went for a scan this morning.

They found the Mirena.... In her ABDOMEN !!

So now she is going in to theatre to have it removed. She has been told she cannot breastfeed her baby after surgery because of the drugs. I am sure this would'nt be the case as you can still breastfeed after a c section and your full of drugs. I also fed straight after an emergency curette when Brandon was 2 weeks old.

Wish her luck girls :pray:

This might be a silly question, but - isn't a Mirena meant to be in her uterus?

This might be an even sillier question... what is a mirena? where is it supposed to be?

The Mirena should be in the uterus

Myson
Mirena is a T shaped plastic device that sits in your uterus. It is a form of contraception

A Mirena is an IUD that is inserted into the uterus and releases hormones that prevent a fertilised egg from implanting.

After thinking about it, now I get it - you mean the strings went missing?

heh. Trish - did you get confused?? ;) Perhaps it's in a fallopian tube or something? Seeing as it's pain on one side? I have no idea tho of course LOL.

Hope everything goes ok for her!

fingers crossed it all goes ok...

my friend had a similar issue but they founds her was just hiding a bit and she didn't need surgery

Hope it goes well :crossfingers:

oh. AN IUD! well i know what that is.... I didnt realize they had names now :rofl:

but seriously, hope your GF is doing ok.

Sounds nasty... I hope your friend has a quick recovery. :pray:

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In her UTERUS !

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Oops.!!:redface:

Maybe that should read in her abdomen. LOL. Ok so it's in her belly.

Apparently, when the gyno put it in he measured her too long and inserted it right through and into her abdomen. Please tell me I have written it right this time.

She is in hosp and on anti biotics for 24 hours first, incase there is any infection. Then they are going to hopefully retrieve it via keyhole surgery.

That gyno needs a new tape measure.
How on earth could he/she make a mistake like that. It would require quite a bit of force to push it through her uterus. No wonder she has a lot of cramps and pain

Dunno Alan, but when i had mine fitted they told me it is reltively normal for women to FAINT during a NORMAL, CORRECT insertion. Of course i barely had a cramp, but they were still very concerned about me getting the bus home alone and being in charge of my DD alone that evening (made me call DP and get him to come over while i was still in the clinic). Perhaps the lock on the sound was broken? When mine was fitted they inserted the sound/applicator, locked the stop at my cervix (so the next time they inserted they COULDN'T go too deep), put the mirena into the end and reinserted as deep as the lock and then released the Mirena and withdrew the sound/applicator.

Perforation does occur sometimes. I asked for stats before i let the doctor do it. The clinic had had one perforation in 7500 insertions and my doctor personally had 0 perforations in 900 insertions. Mine is still where it was put!

As an aside my friend has Mirena and her strings vanish and reappear at regular but random intervals and hers isn't "lost". In fact one of my strings went missing about a month after insertion but the other one is still there so i'm not worried.

Bx

thanks trish,
it is i who has a missing Mirena IUD!!!!

doc has said that the day it was put it they over did it yes and it put a hole in my cervix a hole in my uterus and now is im my bowel. lovely i know!

ive been sent home with a op date booked for the 16th sept.

it is an emg but the doc that is really good is over seas and will not be here till the 16th,
if i start to get worse sick temps bleeding im to go straight back in and have anyone remove it tho it wouldn't be key hole, thats the reason im on the waiting list cause this doc has a good chance of keeping it keyhole, if he cant no one can!!!

so i have to have a bowel prep on the 15!!!!!!!!!! starve on clear fluids for 2 days...and empty out!

I spoke to the breast feeding lady, and she seems to agree with yes i can bf just like i would after a c section!!!

i guess it depends on if i have key hole or open me up!
im also having my gall balled removed......

oh and im having some of my bowel removed!!!!!!!

im very scared very worried about it all!
i have 3 baby boys that i DO NOT want to leave behind!!!!!!!!!!

1 in a thousand have to have a (poo bag)
sorry don't know the correct name!

i don't know if i can have more babies!

everyone is telling me to sue, i don't know who/how or what/if i would even have a case!!!!!

please keep me in your thoughts that i pull through it fine!
and no bags and that i can keep breastfeeding my little man xoxoxxoxoxo

:hug: thats so scary!! I would try find a different Dr and get it done as soon as possible if I was you..

Good Luck and i will be thinking of you

Holy cr@p Skyski!
I really hope you have no issues between now and Sept 16! And I definitely hope you're still able to have bubba's!
I would be looking at suing also... what a terrible thing to have to endure.
Thinking of you and sending you loads of healing vibes.

thanks guys xxxxxxx

HOLY H...
I am due to have one done in 3 weeks... And at our clinic they said the error rate on the insertion (as in over-insertion) is like, 1 in every 500. The nurse said there was a doctor there that had it happen a year ago, and the lady got sick, and she sued, and now the doctor is not practising at all anymore because her insurance premiums went through the roof!

Oh dear. I am seriously having doubts now. I'm just a scaredy-cat sometimes though...???

were is yr clinic huni?

cause im going through this i wouldn't say get one.......

but im the un lucky one...

i was never told that this could ever happen

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i was never told that this could ever happen

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Sue. I was told on 3 occasions that there was a known risk of perforation and what that meant and what would happen if that occured. Once on the phone to book the insertion, once by the nurse at the pre-insertion screen and once by the doctor before she inserted. It's a known, rare but serious complication and they should be telling every woman they fit it to about it. Also how many weeks post partum were you? The practitioners info states they should never fit it to nursing mothers before 6 weeks post partum and that if a woman who's nursing still doesn't have her periods they should consider waiting until 12 weeks. The nursing mother's uterus is softer and still contracting with feeds, and perforation is far more likely.

Bx

:hug: you poor thing.

I hope that you can hold out until the 16th for this great Dr. Must be very scary for you. I'm sure it will all work out hun... you have definately already had your share of bad luck with this. It can only get better.

wow.
it was 7 weeks after bub...

and they tried to insert it twice.........

and yes im bf ........

omg...
why wasn't i told this?
all i was told was that i would most likely bleed for 4 months on and off.............

I don't know why you weren't told it. I read up a TON before i had mine fitted (had DD in April, weaned in November, had Mirena fitted 2 days before Christmas) but they still told me all the stuff i already knew again and they asked me among other things if i was nursing still and how old DD was and how the birth had gone etc. etc. Did they know you were BFing? Did they ask? Had AF returned?

You might not be able to get a case for the perforation (it can happen sometimes and being recently Post Partum and BFing make it a greater risk) but you should be able to be compensated for the fact that they failed to mention it. Even if they just change procedure to make sure EVERY woman is informed of this possibility beforehand that would be a triumph.

In terms of my own research i would definitely have Mirena put in again after my next baby (unless we plan to ttc again within 12 or so months) BUT i would wait until 12 weeks and use another method if AF had returned already (my AF came back at 6 weeks PP with DD, despite fully breastfeeding her on demand :rolleyes:). By 12 weeks the uterus of PP women is much more stable and everything is back the way it was before.

Overall i'm pretty happy with Mirena and would far rather use it than either of us be sterilised once our family is complete, but it isn't without risks. I'm so sorry this happened to you. On the plus side the earlier the perforation is detected and treated (not just in terms of getting it out, but most importantly the giving of antibiotics, which halt infection - infection is what threatens fertility) the less likely it is to affect future fertility and pregnancies. I know a woman on another board who got it fitted after #4, then split from her DH and didn't have sex for 4 years. When she went to get it removed at the 5 year mark they couldn't find it - it was in her KIDNEY and had been there, giving the level of calcification round it, for about 4 years, so since she'd had it basically! I'm glad your perforation has been discovered so quickly and i hope once it's out your complications are finished with.

Bx

Well I was thinking of getting one after ds, but this has changed my mind. I had doubts to begin with, so this just made it much easier to decide.

No thank you!!

2 weeks till my op!

im soooooooo
scared :pray::pray::pray::pray::pray::pray::pray:

oh dear! How scary!

Good luck with the op, i would say you have abig case of lack of informed consent for sure.. there would be someone you could call (a medical board or something like that- just do a google search) and atleast ask them if they think you would have a case. i would ask for a copy of your medical records too, just to see what is wrtten in the notes about the insertion and informed consent.
I manage a dental surgery and we get written consent for everything with our patients, have never had anything go wrong or anything like that but just covering us if there ever was a problem.

Thought I'd update this thread.

My friend has had her op, had the mirena finally removed and her gall bladder removed. Both through key hole surgery. Op went ok. Approx 3 hours. A couple of days later of not getting better but worse she had to be re opened. They thought she was leaking bile and said she'd need a colostomy bag for atleast 6 months. As it turned out she had internal bleeding and a belly full of blood clots.

She was given shots of adrenalin and was taken to theatre. The Dr asked if she had anything to say and she told him to pull her through as she had 3 little boys. The priest was down there and blessed her and said a prayer for her !!

The clots were moving to her lungs which is why her BP was so high and having a very hard time breathing. Her stomach was rock hard and had 1.5 litres of blood in it. This op went for approx 2 hours. They still don't know where the bleeding came from.

All the while through this she has kept on pumping. Even when off her head on medications her DP and the nurse put the pump on for her to keep up her supply. Bub has had some BM and is getting back to it but her supply has dropped some what.


All of this from just having a Mirena put in :(

OMG,

I am in shock after reading this. I never got told any of this info either.
Mind you i don't have the mirena i have the multiload one. Don't ask me why the ob wanted me to have this one but apparently it is non - hormonal? Does anyone no the difference between them or anyone else have the multiload one?
I personally have had no problems with this one so far and had it inserted Feb 2008. I was told to check that the strings are there every now and again and when i have pap smears to get them to check it our then as well iukwim. ;)

Skyeski my thoughts are with you at this difficult stressful time. Big hugs :hug: and get well soon.

OH my GOD how frightening!! - I'm sending your friend all the get well vibes in the world - I cannot believe this has happened from such a so called simple procedure.

May she have a fast recovery and sue the pants of the A-Hole that did this - but in all honesty may she just have a speedy recovery and get back the time she has lost with her precious family :pray:

Bigbird your IUD has copper in it. Copper makes the inside of your womb a very unfriendly place for both sperm and fertilised eggs, and stops embies implanting into the lining. The Mirena contains levongestrel, a synthetic progesterone, which prevents the lining of the uterus building to a depth that can support life, and thickens the cervical mucus which helps prevent sperm getting in. In terms of perforation risk they are the same.

Skye i'm so sorry you had surgical complications! It sounds like your surgeon made a mess of things the first time - how can they stop bleeding when they "don't know where it's coming from"? Sounds like a half-truth to me, like maybe they nicked something or dropped a suture and don't want to admit it! I'm so glad you came through and i can't BELIEVE you managed to keep pumping through all that - you know milk is a blood product right! You're a bloody BF superstar!!!

This thread can serve as a reminder to us all, that though the complication rate with Mirena is low, however small the number is each represents a REAL woman, with a REAL life. I'm so sorry it was you Skye :(

GIant :hug: to you hun, sending you love and healing vibes.

Bx

OMG! ! I hope this is the end of this chapter for her!

all my wishes...

OMG Skye,
I can't believe it. Get well soon huni. :hug: and i :pray: your ok.
Take care rach xxx
p.s ask your surgeon if the adhesions fron the op will have any lasting effect on your fertility etc. (don't want to worry you but every person who has a op should be informed of how the adhesions (scarred tissue) can effect you.
take care hun.
xxxxxxxxxx

Oh no :( Poor thing :(

Skye, I am sending you lots and lots of get well vibes. If you need any help please contact me.

Huge :hug: :hug: for you xxx

thanks ladies!

im happy to say im HOME

still very sore as to be expected...


and happy to tell that my little man has attached again!!!

back to fully bf yay....

im so happy that with all the crap i was going through i pushed past it and can still feed my baby today.
thanks for all the well wishes...


i will never in my life have anything inserted maybe its gods wish that i go on to have more children :)

Nadine thanks huni....


rachel6188. i have an visit with the doctor booked for the 16th oct..

hoping he can tell me of the damange xxxx:pray: that i still can tho...


and just wanted to say a big thankyou to trish for updating this thread xxoo

all my love skye :hug:

far out!

1 in 500 seems like a high number to me. If I was going to get this done & was told that I would walk out. No way!

skye,
iv just read this thread again...just wondered how you are doing now??
i had the mirena mentioned last week and i see my gynae on thurs and this will not be option...even though i bleed on the pill for 12 weeks..no chance..i can't believe these risks arent talked about...especially when people end up seriously ill...if they have to operate to remove it(in a emergeny) you run the risk of adhesions (scarred tissue) and alot of people dont know the problems that can cause later on..im angry so sorry for going on.
hope you are doing ok huni.
love rach xx