Blocked Tube Questions

dancerspose

So, my HSG yesterday did not go well.  It was pretty obvious that one of my tubes was blocked.  One flowed freely in and out.  The right one (which is strange because I usually have cramping on my left side) got a teeny bit of dye in the tube, but not much and nothing would flow back out.  I know I'm jumping the gun here since I still need my Sono done on Monday before meeting again with the doctor, but I'm guessing that surgery is really the only option at this point.  I'm just wondering what experiences others have had with blocked tubes and surgeries.  They said it'd be outpatient, but what's the recovery time and all?  I'm a pretty active person so I'm just curious.

Also, my insurance only covers diagnosis, no IF treatment.  I'm assuming that the surgery would be considered treatment (grrr, stupid insurance) so I'm wondering what the cost of the surgery is likely to be.

Thanks in advance for any insight or info!

Sha259

Why do you assume that surgery is the only option? Did your RE say anything about hydrosalpinx? 

You can see my sig, my experience was similar. However, my first lap after my HSG was because my HSG showed BOTH of my tubes as blocked. Repeat HSG after surgery showed that after removal of my fibroid, I only had one blocked tube, blocked midway up. The other was clear. Both were overall healthy looking and I had no Hydrosalpinx (Fluid on the tube).My RE never recommended another surgery. Unless you for some reason do not want to keep your tubes.

I went straight from my  HSG to duing my IUIs. 

ETA: My last IVF cycle was partially successful. And that was with my one blocked tube still in there.

BunnyBerry

Sorry about the blocked tube. If your doctor is talking surgery, perhaps they believe there is a hydrosalpinx and want to protect the sperm and egg from a hostile immune response! Laparoscopy is not bad at all. A few pills each day took care of the pain, and it was really just the anesthesia-related nausea (and wearing loose-waisted clothing for a few weeks) that caused any issue for me. My little incisions are looking pretty good now 6 weeks later.

Actually, our RE said that exploratory laparoscopy used to be standard practice for all IF cases, until they realized that it wasn't medically necessary for enough women. So now it's used if there is a diagnosed issue to treat, or factors to suspect endo.

dancerspose

Thanks all.  I know it is premature to assume I'll need surgery (won't talk to my RE until at least next week sometime) but I'm just trying to prepare myself/gather information if that's the case.  The PA who did the HSG with the radiologist mentioned it as the likely course of action, but obviously I'll have to see what the doc says.

I did call the billing department at my doctor's office.  The person I spoke with seemed fairly confident the surgery would be done under the umbrella of a diagnostic procedure, not treatment, and therefor be covered.  I don't entirely understand how that works, but I guess if it works out in my favor I won't question it.

Sha259

Not meaning to scare you at all, but for these people to be talking surgery already, it seems like they found something that they haven't fully discussed with you yet. I would definitely wait to hear back from your RE after they have had the time to fully review your results.

As for the actual lap surgery, I have had two. The first was exploratory, since I had two blocked tubes to confirm their blockage and remove if they were fluid filled. Here they found not really blocked tubes, but a huge fibroid, and chromotubation still showed two blocked tubes. The second was to get rid of the fibroid. So you see, I've had two surgeries and in neither did they need to do anything with my tubes. 

In the end, since there was no harm in me keeping my tubes (even if one didn't work), I left them there.

Both times the surgery was not bad at all and I was back to work after 3 days (for the first one), and 2 weeks (for the second). 

Overall, if you need surgery, you will be okay and back on your feet in no time. But if there is nothing wrong with your tube except the blockage, as in everything else looks good, no fluid visible, then why have surgery at all?

BethKate2

I'm a little late to this thread, but I agree with pp that it's strange that they're mentioning surgery already. My HSG showed a blocked tube as well, but since I still have one open tube, we're going forward with an IUI which is what we would've done with two open tubes anyway. There hasn't been any talk of additional surgeries.

I did have laparoscopic surgery, but mine was remove an ectopic (the cause of my current blocked tube). Recover was more difficult than I assumed it would be, but I was up and moving around on my own after about 3 days, and felt mostly normal after a week.