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Monday, April 6, 2009

More about the specialist appointment

When Dr. Lombardo stuck his head in the room, we were in the middle of a transvaginal ultrasound. He introduced himself to me and I to him, while I was lying on that table, naked and being examined. Talk about uncomfortable.

Like I said in my previous post, the ultrasound tech was the same one who did our level 2 and our amnio ultrasounds. She told us that she was so happy to see us. She also said, "We all remember you and felt so bad for you. We are so glad to see you back."

He reassured me that the during his 20 years of practicing medicine, he has never had a patient with two chromosomally abnormal children, especially a trisomy, unless the parents had some sort of genetic problem. That made me feel a little better.

He was also talked about Jenna. He said, "Your little one had a lot of problems. I reviewed the final ultrasound. She had no chance whatsoever."

Even though I have never really doubted my decision to terminate (even though I do regret that awful trip to Atlanta and not being able to terminate), his words made me feel so much better about that decision.

I'm thinking I might ask what problems she had. I want to know exactly. We do know about her brain not forming, along with her skull, the cystic hygroma, the clubbed foot and the kidneys. I wonder if she had more. I know it all comes down to Trisomy 18, but I want details about it. Do you think it would be bad of me to ask more about it? Will it hurt me more to know?

I was supposed to go down to Dr. McGowen's office for my ultrasound this Friday. They couldn't decide if they wanted me to see the doctor afterward or not. At first, the nurse said no, so they made the appointment. When I asked how long it was going to take to get the results, the nurse said it would be Monday, and then said, "Well, if they see a heartbeat, the tech can tell you. If they don't, they can't."

I guess she could tell by the look on my face that I couldn't wait until Monday to know if something was wrong or not, so she said, "Call down there and get her into see Dr. McGowen afterward."

The receptionist called, but Dr. McGowen was going to be out that Friday. So, they decided to scan me there. When asked if I would be able to get the results on Friday, the ultrasound tech said, "You'll have your results. Don't worry. You'll have them even if the doctor isn't here."

She walked off, and the receptionist whispered to us, "She's trying to tell you that she'll give you the results without telling you that."

Sounds like I'm in pretty good hands, doesn't it?

1 comment:

Beth said...

It does sound like you're in good hands, and I'm glad! It's so good to have doctors who care about you personally.

I don't think it would be bad at all for you to ask for more details about Jenna. I think as mothers we try to understand exactly what happened to our children. In my one picture of Ada her head is a little sunken in (I know Jenna's was, too), and my husband and I had a whole conversation about why. I mean, babies can be born premature at 24 weeks and that doesn't happen to THEM. I think you and I are both just trying to fully understand the situation so we can come to terms with it better.

I'm so glad everything's going well with your rainbow baby!