Post-surgery part 4

This is the last post of my "post-surgery" series. This post is mainly about my post-surgery test results and my first period after miscarriage.

本篇為"術後系列"的最後一篇. 這篇主要是紀錄我的手術後的檢查報告跟流產後的第一次月經.

My genetic test results are in. All negative. The results became available online on June 8 so I just viewed them from the website. Along with genetic testing of spinal muscular atrophy and cystic fibrosis, my doctor also wanted to test me for diabetes, as she puts it "because of my weight," despite the fact that I had a blood test for a1c in February during my routine physical exam and it was normal. The good thing is all of my post-surgery tests have come back normal. This doesn't explain why T&T didn't develop appropriately. My "normal" results also don't explain how we can prevent a miscarriage from happening again. In fact, all doctors and literature seem to agree that miscarriages are unpreventable. More precisely, once a miscarriage process has begun, it's not possible to stop the process to finish. This is why life is precious.

基因檢查報告出來了. 全部都是陰性. 基因檢查部分有 脊髓性肌肉萎縮症 跟 囊腫性纖維化 (這兩個名詞是靠Google翻譯的). 所有檢查結果在6/8 被登錄在網站上 我上網登入後就看的到. 除了基因檢查之外, 我的醫生"因為我的體重"也對我做了糖尿病檢查, 雖然其實今年2月時我才做過體檢測過血糖 當時結果也一切正常. 還好 手術後的每項檢查都正常. 這些"正常"結果沒辦法解釋為什麼T&T沒有正常發展, 也無法解釋 如何預防流產再次發生. 事實上, 每個我遇到的醫生跟獨到的文獻似乎都認為流產是無可避免的. 更細的說, 是一旦流產的過程已經開始, 就沒辦法終止這個過程. 這也是為什麼生命很珍貴.

The same day the genetic / a1c test results were in was also the day I had my last post-surgery HCG test. It was 3. It's slightly surprising to see that - even after 2 weeks of surgery - there's still some amount of HCG inside my body. My body still thought it's pregnant on June 8 even though the twins had departed this world on May 20. I read somewhere (I think it was WhatToExpect forum) that HCG generally decreases fast toward the beginning and then it taps off slower as the HCG level becomes smaller. I didn't dive into that topic much but I think how my body is recovering is pretty consistent with what I read.

基因報告和血糖報告出來的那天 也是我在術後做的最後一次HCG檢查. 檢查出來的數值是3. 其實有一點點驚訝在手術2個星期後 身體裡依然還有HCG. T&T在5/20離開了我的身體, 但直到6/8我的身體依然認為自己還在懷孕. 之前在某個地方讀過(好像是WTE論壇) HCG通常是在數值高的時候下降的較快, 數值越低時掉的會越慢. 當時我沒有特別的針對這部分細讀, 不過我的身體在復原期間 似乎跟讀到的講的很像.

This graph shows the drastic drop right after surgery on May 20.
My HCG level continued to drop during recovery, though it tapped off slower toward the end
這個圖展現5/20手術剛過的"大跌."
我的HCG數值在手術後一直持續在下降, 只是越後面下降的越慢.

My first period post-surgery came on June 22. Just a little over a month after the surgery. It. Was. Painful. I first experienced some weird throbbing pain in the lower abdomen on June 18. This started in the middle of the night. The throbbing pain woke me up around 4am. The throbbing pain was like the kind of a headache like something was pounding on the same spot, except it was down there. The pain was there no matter what position I was in - the throbbing sensation was there whether I was sitting, lying on bed, or standing/walking. I actually thought it could be an onset of UTI. I called the advise hotline around 6am. A nurse transferred my call to an ob department but no one answered (I guess the office was still closed? But, wouldn't the nurse that transferred my call knew?) Eventually, I fell asleep and woke up to a phone call from Kaiser. They scheduled a virtual visit for me for the following Monday. The pain was gone by Saturday and I felt well enough to go on a 3-hour hike that day. So on Sunday, I canceled the appointment. Then just as how the Murphy Law operates, the same throbbing pain came back on Monday. It was more to the right side this time. Then the next day, my period came. The pain was there on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Wednesday, there was that familiar cramp, but it was like it got intensified by 10 times. I could literally feel the "compression of the uterus." There was a heavier flow, more clots, and more pain, for days. The throbbing pain was there too. My own susception of UTI did not cease, so I called my provider again and went in for urinalysis on June 24. I was told to start with antibiotics immediately that night, even before the test results were in. I followed the instructions and took the pills for 3 days. The urinalysis results came back within 24 hours and there was no sign of infection. The doctor said it could be because I was on my period - so the sample could've been contaminated therefore the result could've been inaccurate and wanted me to finish the antibiotics. I had questions about that because at first a nurse from Kaiser told me being on period wouldn't affect the sample. I also asked the doctor if I should return to the lab for another test once my period's over - so the sample wouldn't be "contaminated by my own blood." She said no. Her reasoning was if the conditions improve after I finish the antibiotics, then there's no need to follow up with more tests. Well, my conditions improved about 2 days after I started on the antibiotics. The throbbing pain became slight discomfort from time to time by the time I finished the pills. The discomfort was gone, completely, by the time the menstrual period ended. So my theory about the pain/discomfort that's 10x worse than my usual cramp is that it's just a SUPER CRAMP - which seems common with the first period after miscarriage.

手術後的第一次月經 在6/22來了. 距離手術那天是一個月又一點點之後. 真.的.很.痛. 從6/18那天的半夜 下腹偏下就有感受到一種"一跳一跳"的痛. 這個"跳痛" (真的很難形容, 英文講throbbing很貼切)在凌晨4點多就把我痛醒. 當時的痛是有點像有時候頭痛會在某一個位置重複一樣的跳痛, 只是那時痛的位置是在下腹的偏下面. 當時 無論我是甚麼姿勢, 坐著躺著站著或走路, 那個痛都沒變多或變少. 那時我其實還懷疑自己是不是正在尿道炎的初期. 大約清晨6點, 我打電話到護士熱線. 一位護士問了我的狀況後轉接我到婦產科但沒有任何人接電話(我猜那時婦產科可能還沒開吧? 不過 若真如此, 當時轉接我的護士怎麼會不曉得?) 等著等著, 我後來睡著了. 再醒來是Kaiser打電話來把我吵醒. 他們幫我約了幾天後一個星期一的視訊檢查. 下腹的痛在星期六時不見了, 覺得身體沒不舒服我還去健行了3個小時. 因為身體沒感到不適, 所以星期天的時候 我把隔天的預約取消了. 就像是墨菲定律一樣, 下腹的"跳痛"在星期一那天又回來了. 這次下腹痛得比較偏右邊. 星期一痛, 星期二, 星期三, 星期四連著天天都痛. 星期三的時候, 下富有過去經痛的感覺, 但是是10倍的痛感. 我真的當時可以感受到子宮收縮的感覺. 那天血特別多, 血塊也特別多, 下腹也特別痛. "跳痛"也沒消失. 我自己對尿道炎的猜測也沒減少, 所以又打了次電話給Kaiser 然後再6/24那天去醫院做尿液檢查. 當時護士要我從那天晚上直接開始吃3天分的消炎藥, 雖然那時檢查結果還不知道. 我照著指示吃完了3天份的藥. 檢查報告在24小時內就出來了, 說是沒有任何發炎的徵兆. 醫生說 可能因為我當時正在月經期, 所以尿液被血"汙染"所以結果不夠精準, 要我繼續把消炎藥吃完. 當時我很疑惑 因為在一開始Kaiser有護士告訴我就算尿液裡有月經的血也不會影響樣本. 我問醫生 等月經走了之後我是不是該回去醫院再做一次尿液採檢, 這樣 樣本就不會"被我自己的血給汙染?" 醫生說不用. 她的理由是只要吃完消炎藥後 我的狀況若有改善就不需要再複診. 結果, 我的狀況在吃消炎藥的兩天後就好轉了. 吃完藥之後, "跳痛"變成了有一會沒一會的輕微的稍稍不適感覺. 月經走後, 不適感也完全的消失了. 所以我自己對 關於這個比過去月經還痛10倍的痛 的理論是 這是流產後的第一次月經的超痛經痛 - 且這似乎是滿普遍的狀況.