Unbroken Courage: Alisa's Story
Alicia, a 28-year-old teacher, sat down, clasped her hands, and said, “Are you ready for some drama?”
I had seen so much over my years as an acupuncturist; I figured I would be nonplussed no matter what she shared with me. “Sure,” I said.
“It’s super creepy.”
“Try me.”
“So, when I was 14, I had intense pain in my lower abdomen—so intense it made me vomit. Then one day, I passed out. My mom took me to the ER, and they discovered I had a nine-pound dermoid cyst on my right ovary. Nine pounds. Can you imagine?”
I shook my head. That’s the weight of a baby.
“It had split open, and I was bleeding internally. Fortunately, they were able to save the ovary and fallopian tube, and oh, my life. I might have been a goner.”
A dermoid cyst is a growth that develops when skin becomes trapped during fetal development. This kind of cyst can exist in the sinuses, brain, spinal cord, and on the ovaries. When the cyst is on an ovary and develops during a young woman’s reproductive years, it can grow skin, teeth, and hair.
When Alicia came to see me, she and her husband had been trying to conceive for three years. She had PCOS, and her husband had low sperm motility. Also, she had scar tissue on her right fallopian tube from her cyst surgery, which prevented the egg from going down the tube on the right side. The cards were stacked against them! They had tried two IUIs, but every time she grew multiple cysts with Clomid, so they had to stop trying this method. They moved on to IVF.
IVF is expensive, and as a teacher, Alicia wasn’t rolling in cash. To save money, she and her husband took part in a study in which the eggs were matured in a dish instead of inside the body, as in a typical IVF cycle. With their fertility doctor’s help, they had retrieved 14 eggs two months earlier and matured them in a dish. Using this method, only four eggs matured, and just one fertilized. Alicia came to see me to prepare for her frozen embryo transfer.
She had elevated Doppler readings in one of her uterine arteries, indicating that blood flow to the uterus on that side was restricted, so her fertility doctor sent her in for electroacupuncture prior to transfer. The uterine arteries feed the uterus and ovaries, and if the flow of blood in them is impeded, or restricted, fertility and IVF outcomes aren’t as good. Studies show electroacupuncture is effective in improving the blood flow, so many fertility doctors send patients to acupuncturists for this procedure. Studies also show that two treatments per week for the four weeks leading up to embryo transfer is most effective.
Alicia came in for the prescribed eight treatments, and she got pregnant! Remember in the movie, “Finding Nemo” when all the fertilized fish eggs were eaten except for the one that became Nemo? They named their embryo “Nemo,” since it was the only one to survive the IVF. However, even after hearing Nemo’s heartbeat during ultrasounds at six and eight weeks, she miscarried between nine and ten weeks. She and her husband were devastated. They took a break for several months to heal emotionally and physically, got healthy, and returned for more acupuncture.
Alicia had changed fertility doctors, and she and her husband decided to try another IUI cycle with Letrozole and Menopur instead of Clomid. This time, there were no cysts, and she had two big eggs. Her husband’s sperm count was within normal limits for an IUI. Everything looked great!
But again, it didn’t work. A few months later, she came back to prepare for another IVF, this time a fresh cycle with a new clinic. She chose to do ten acupuncture treatments before her transfer. This was useful for Alicia because she experienced many side effects from the drugs, including hot flashes, bloating, and weepiness, which acupuncture helped ameliorate. She was understandably nervous, as she had had such a rough road trying to conceive.
This cycle, she responded very well, and they retrieved 30 eggs! Fourteen fertilized and seven embryos made it to day four. They transferred two, and Alicia became pregnant with twins! She and her husband were over the moon....
Want to find out what happens? Purchase the book here!
I had seen so much over my years as an acupuncturist; I figured I would be nonplussed no matter what she shared with me. “Sure,” I said.
“It’s super creepy.”
“Try me.”
“So, when I was 14, I had intense pain in my lower abdomen—so intense it made me vomit. Then one day, I passed out. My mom took me to the ER, and they discovered I had a nine-pound dermoid cyst on my right ovary. Nine pounds. Can you imagine?”
I shook my head. That’s the weight of a baby.
“It had split open, and I was bleeding internally. Fortunately, they were able to save the ovary and fallopian tube, and oh, my life. I might have been a goner.”
A dermoid cyst is a growth that develops when skin becomes trapped during fetal development. This kind of cyst can exist in the sinuses, brain, spinal cord, and on the ovaries. When the cyst is on an ovary and develops during a young woman’s reproductive years, it can grow skin, teeth, and hair.
When Alicia came to see me, she and her husband had been trying to conceive for three years. She had PCOS, and her husband had low sperm motility. Also, she had scar tissue on her right fallopian tube from her cyst surgery, which prevented the egg from going down the tube on the right side. The cards were stacked against them! They had tried two IUIs, but every time she grew multiple cysts with Clomid, so they had to stop trying this method. They moved on to IVF.
IVF is expensive, and as a teacher, Alicia wasn’t rolling in cash. To save money, she and her husband took part in a study in which the eggs were matured in a dish instead of inside the body, as in a typical IVF cycle. With their fertility doctor’s help, they had retrieved 14 eggs two months earlier and matured them in a dish. Using this method, only four eggs matured, and just one fertilized. Alicia came to see me to prepare for her frozen embryo transfer.
She had elevated Doppler readings in one of her uterine arteries, indicating that blood flow to the uterus on that side was restricted, so her fertility doctor sent her in for electroacupuncture prior to transfer. The uterine arteries feed the uterus and ovaries, and if the flow of blood in them is impeded, or restricted, fertility and IVF outcomes aren’t as good. Studies show electroacupuncture is effective in improving the blood flow, so many fertility doctors send patients to acupuncturists for this procedure. Studies also show that two treatments per week for the four weeks leading up to embryo transfer is most effective.
Alicia came in for the prescribed eight treatments, and she got pregnant! Remember in the movie, “Finding Nemo” when all the fertilized fish eggs were eaten except for the one that became Nemo? They named their embryo “Nemo,” since it was the only one to survive the IVF. However, even after hearing Nemo’s heartbeat during ultrasounds at six and eight weeks, she miscarried between nine and ten weeks. She and her husband were devastated. They took a break for several months to heal emotionally and physically, got healthy, and returned for more acupuncture.
Alicia had changed fertility doctors, and she and her husband decided to try another IUI cycle with Letrozole and Menopur instead of Clomid. This time, there were no cysts, and she had two big eggs. Her husband’s sperm count was within normal limits for an IUI. Everything looked great!
But again, it didn’t work. A few months later, she came back to prepare for another IVF, this time a fresh cycle with a new clinic. She chose to do ten acupuncture treatments before her transfer. This was useful for Alicia because she experienced many side effects from the drugs, including hot flashes, bloating, and weepiness, which acupuncture helped ameliorate. She was understandably nervous, as she had had such a rough road trying to conceive.
This cycle, she responded very well, and they retrieved 30 eggs! Fourteen fertilized and seven embryos made it to day four. They transferred two, and Alicia became pregnant with twins! She and her husband were over the moon....
Want to find out what happens? Purchase the book here!
Double Trouble: Eliza's Story
Liza, a quick, funny, and anxious therapist came to see me after trying for about six months to conceive baby number two. She and her husband already had a three-year-old son, and they were ready for another child.
Pushing her dark hair behind her ears, she revealed her unique health history during her intake assessment.
“Well, you see, I started having periods when I was 9 ½.”
“Wow! That’s early,” I said. “Most start around 12.”
“No kidding! I was so embarrassed around my friends. I kept it a secret for years! But that’s not even the weirdest part.”
“Oh?” Now, my curiosity was piqued.
“When I went in for a pelvic exam at 16, I learned that I got a two for one deal,” Liza said. “Lucky me!”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
“I have not one but two uteri!” she said, smiling.
What? It was the first time I had ever heard of this, but I didn’t want her to feel like a medical anomaly, so I maintained my clinician’s calm veneer and acted like I knew what she was talking about.
“It’s called a didelphic uterus,” said Liza.
Of course, when our session finished, I fired up my computer and googled it. I learned that one in 3,000 women have a didelphic uterus. It’s usually not discovered until a woman has her first gynecological exam, and even then, it can be missed if there is only one vagina.
Wait, only one vagina? It’s true. Some women have two vaginas in addition to the two uteri, but usually only one is functional...
Want to find out what happens? Purchase the book here!
Pushing her dark hair behind her ears, she revealed her unique health history during her intake assessment.
“Well, you see, I started having periods when I was 9 ½.”
“Wow! That’s early,” I said. “Most start around 12.”
“No kidding! I was so embarrassed around my friends. I kept it a secret for years! But that’s not even the weirdest part.”
“Oh?” Now, my curiosity was piqued.
“When I went in for a pelvic exam at 16, I learned that I got a two for one deal,” Liza said. “Lucky me!”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
“I have not one but two uteri!” she said, smiling.
What? It was the first time I had ever heard of this, but I didn’t want her to feel like a medical anomaly, so I maintained my clinician’s calm veneer and acted like I knew what she was talking about.
“It’s called a didelphic uterus,” said Liza.
Of course, when our session finished, I fired up my computer and googled it. I learned that one in 3,000 women have a didelphic uterus. It’s usually not discovered until a woman has her first gynecological exam, and even then, it can be missed if there is only one vagina.
Wait, only one vagina? It’s true. Some women have two vaginas in addition to the two uteri, but usually only one is functional...
Want to find out what happens? Purchase the book here!