I was not told I had a miscarriage until I was in the emergency room days later!!!!

littledashie

Hello I am new here and just wanted to share my story and see if anybody has experienced anything similar.
Last Thursday I went for my 12 week ultrasound. I was so excited but it turned out to be nothing like I expected. I asked the technician if I could see the screen and her response was "no". I asked why not and she said because the image was not clear enough and she'd need to do a transvaginal ultrasound so I agreed to that because I really wanted to see a clear picture of my baby. When I asked again if I could see she said no again. I don't really know what was going on in my head after that. Either she was being rude, there was something wrong, or it was just hospital policy. I never got any results from a doctor until yesterday but I will get into that later. The next day (Friday) I went to an overnight woman's retreat with my church. When I woke up I had some light bleeding but I know that's normal in early pregnancy. The bleeding increased every day and on Tuesday I had severe cramping and incredible bleeding. It got so bad that my finance had to take me to the emergency room because I was screaming in pain. I was there for 5 hours (until 4am) and I was not seen until 4 and a half hours in the waiting room crying and bleeding everywhere. It was so bad and painful. I finally got to see a doctor who did a bedside ultrasound and blood work. Nobody at the hospital seemed to care about what was going on. He told me I'd have to get another ultrasound in the morning at 9 am and come back to the emergency room for my results. I was at the hospital for another 3 hours the next day with severe cramping and bleeding still. Finally I got my results and was told I had miscarried weeks prior to my body recognizing it. I can't believe this healthcare system though, why didnt the technician get a doctor if she thought something was wrong ?!? I am outraged!! And I don't know where to go from here. Thanks for listening to my story

carrieandr

I'm sorry you went through that.

My ultrasounds were always followed immediately after by an appt with the doctor. I'm surprised they scheduled you for an u/s without that. Especially if the tech wasn't authorized to tell you anything.  --My u/s tech told me there was no longer a heartbeat before I even saw the doctor.

littledashie

I'm wondering if I should report the technician I got. She was very rude to me during the entire thing. However it might just be that the Canadian healthcare system is a joke. 

bgf1

I am also in Canada.  I am still waiting for my miscarriage to be completed and have had an awful experience with our health care system.  At 9.5 weeks I started bleeding and went to ER after calling my family doc. 9 hours later I was handed an US report which said there was no heart beat by a nurse and told to call and book a follow up US after the Easter weekend.  No one went over the results or told me what to expect I was just sent home with the US report.  I am still waiting for the miscarriage to be completed and go back to ER for the third follow up US this weekend to see if it is finally complete.

In mine case I called and complained to the hospital because I felt a doctor should have discussed the US with me as it was done in ER.  

Your experience  with the US tech was unfortunate, however legally she is unable to tell you anything add discussing/interpreting the US results is outside her scope of practice a MD must read the images first, certainly if your doctor had the results in hands prior to your miscarriage beginning they should have contacted you and if not discuss it with them.  It really seems that ER is an poor place for miscarrying women based on our experience... Wish there was another option for women on early pregnancy to get answers and compassionate care during a loss.   

thistle8677

Wtf??!! Nobody told you??!!! Your Dr. should have received your results and notified you right away. That just makes me so angry! I am so so sorry for you loss. Omfg! What is wrong with people????? I would demand an explanation from your Dr. That is seriously wrong. I hope you get answers.

tigerfish227

I am so sorry you had to face this situation. It is bad enough having to go thru a loss but to have such terrible treatment by healthcare professionals just amazes me. I get it if they aren't allowed to interpret results without a Dr but the least she could have done was to tell you that instead of just blatantly saying no with no explanation or justification.
When I had my ultrasounds the sonographer gave me the information both times without the Dr but I'm not in Canada so I'm sure the regulations are different. I think I would be making a phone call to the office to let them know how poorly you were treated and I would be looking for a different Dr.