New Here - Facing Exploratory Laparoscopy (child mentioned)

Brooke4131

Hello,

I'm so glad that I've found this community because doing this journey alone isn't fun!  I'm 31 and my husband and I have been trying for over a year to conceive our second child.  So far my doctor has run all of the standard blood tests (which have come back as normal) and my husband has had a semen analysis (also normal).  I'm up for an HSG at the end of the month and if that comes back as normal, my doctor has mentioned doing an exploratory laparoscopy.  I'm wondering if anyone else has done an exploratory laparoscopy and how that went?  I really do NOT want to have this done as I'm not a fan of surgery in general and some of the reading I've done has said that these often don't help.  I don't have any symptoms of endometriosis, adhesions, etc, so I really feel like my doctor is just grasping at straws at this point.  I'd love to hear any advice that anyone has.  And thanks for letting me get this all off of my chest!

MooFish2364

My DH and I have also been trying for over a year (I did great KU after 6 months of trying but it ended up being a m/c). So it has been a year since my loss and nothing. All of our tests were normal too, except with my saline u/s which shows a possible small fibroid. So my RE wants to remove the fibroid and also do laparoscopy to check my tubes while he's there. I am going to just go ahead with it. I did have a clear HSG in October but he was worried that it was taking longer for the dye to get through on my right side and he didn't see as much spillage as he would have liked. I'm really hoping that having surgery doesn't make things even worse. 

SunflowerMama428

I'm surprised they aren't waiting for the hsg to be done. Even with my blocked tube, we aren't doing further testing until after three rounds of medicated cycles. Did you have a c section with your first? Is there a concern there? 

Sometimes you can just have unexplained infertility where they can't find a reason but they try to exhaust all tests to call it. I don't think the doctor is grasping at straws just trying to find a reason. 

Is it an RE or obgyn? 

Brooke4131

Thanks for the responses, but I'm sorry y'all are in TTC limbo with me!  To answer your question, I did have a (non-emergency) c section with my first after a very long labor.  I didn't have any post surgery complications, so my doctor did mention she didn't think the c section is the result of our infertility.

I'm just so unsure of what to expect after my HSG.  If I do have a blocked tube, what is the next step?  My doctor said that if the HSG is normal, then she would want to try surgery.

hoffmanr7

@Brooke4131 Welcome.  I hope your stay with us is short and sweet.

I don't know if I can give you any better insight.  My HSG was normal and DH and I have been explained with unexplained infertility.  My doctor never suggested any exploratory surgery, but then again, I have never had any post surgeries or anything that may indicate scarring or other issues. 

I can understand wanting to avoid surgery if possible.  It may help to get a second opinion from another doctor.

adirat

I would avoid the exploratory surgery and get a second opinion. If your HSG comes back clear, there's really no value to having exploratory surgery. Studies of endometriosis removal and pregnancy outcomes show very mixed outcomes and I wouldn't go for it at the very least because it'll bench you for a while with no real benefit.

If your doctor is worried about fibroids or endometriosis, consider asking for an MRI first instead. This will see any large endometriosis or fibroids (that an ultrasound would not see) and does not require you to be benched or have surgery. I had this done because of my severe ovulation pain that was thought to be endometriosis. It wasn't. Turns out I just have sensitive ovaries.

Brooke4131

Hi @adirat Thanks so much for the advice, I didn't think about how long I'd be benched for! If my HSG comes back clear, I'm going to push to avoid exploratory surgery.  Part of this is also an insurance decision....our insurance is ridiculous and we have a very high out of pocket max and they also don't cover any fertility procedures.  I'd really rather save our money for fertility procedures if we need them than spend it all on exploratory surgery that may not make a difference.

adirat

@Brooke4131 That makes a lot of sense. I'd also save the money for fertility procedures (though of course I hope you won't need them).