11 Ultrasounds

I've been avoiding it for the past couple of months, but looking thru the stats of my page, there are people who are still reading the page to know more about CDH, our experience in Makati Med, etc. So in between my experiences about restaurants and life, I'll be posting little by little regarding our months leading to delivering Kat.

I do admit that it's difficult to go through the materials, but I know that it will help families out there. Part of what made the experience so difficult was the lack of information about CDH, and infant surgery, in general, in Asia and the Philippines.

So I hope the entries I will write little by little, help you.




When I found out about Kat's situation, I went into a few days of momentary depression. It was pretty much bleak, from the get-go. However, I snapped out of it, and immediately went into a frenzied organized mode on my own. My OB then was out of the country, and I took a week or so on my own to read up on CDH. I read on the statistics, possible medical surgery that could be done in the US. I bought a binder and organized all the ultrasounds and congenital scans so far, my ECG and Breast Ultrasound tests from the 1st month, my blood tests. All in chronological order. Then I placed them in a blue binder.

Eventually, this binder would become thick and full of test results. The first page, I turned into a directory of information about my doctors, so that in case of any emergency my family and J could easily contact our team. Indeed, this binder became very useful. We would take it to every doctor's appointment. Over the last few months, the additions to the binder became faster, I developed a temporary asthma from the physical stress of the pregnancy. I also developed polyhydramnios, a side effect of Kat's CDH, which had to be closely monitored for both our safeties.

A few months after we buried Kat, I set aside the blue binder, as I knew I would have to write about it someday. Before I did, while donating milk, I xeroxed several copies of the binder. Along with thank you notes and gifts, I distributed them to my OB, our surgeon, and our neonatologist. I wasn't sure they needed it, but just in case it helped them in the future, I wanted them to have copies of my physical tests and ultrasounds.

As I was going thru the pages of the blue binder now, I am amazed at the amount of information that pregnant-me compiled. Even more surprising was the number of tests we had to sit thru.

I counted the ultrasound results. 11 Ultrasounds. I can't believe it.

Normally, it would be about 3-4 ultrasounds per pregnancy... and I sat thru 11. Most of them, congenital scans to check on changes on Kat's organs. We would have these almost every week in the last month. We would wait 2 or more hours in Makati Med, waiting for our turn with our perinatologist. Eventually, they told us to have it done closer to home, because a. they were not expecting much changes anymore, b. congenital scans were very expensive, at P3,000 each, and c. it was exhausting for me to travel to Makati every week and wait for 2 hours.

We would 2 wait hours to hope that there would be a miracle. There would be highs, the would be lows. But there was always hope. I remember crying through about 3 of them. Good thing that the staff of MMC were very supportive of our situation, and would give us our privacy, tissue, etc.

Truth be told, we could barely understand the information given to us by our perinatologist while he was doing the ultrasound. He could see easily, just by looking at the screen. He tried his best to patiently explain the changes, and knew how to kindly inform us that the situation looked bleak. We needed to hear the truth too.

About 3 ultrasounds before giving birth, he showed us Kat's face, hands, feet. After that, I stopped looking at the screen during ultrasounds. I couldn't bear to see anymore.

After every ultrasound, we would just compare the growth in the size of her organs, the amount of amniotic fluid I had, etc. The less amniotic, the better. The bigger her organs got, the longer she was, the happier we were. Even CAS could not see if her lungs were doing well --- that was just something we had to hope for when she was delivered. (When she came out, she had small lungs, that eventually collapsed from too much strain. There was nothing that the doctors could do to save her from that.)

Anyways, if you ever have the unfortunate instance of being in our place, I would advice the ff:
1. If you're having CAS or ultrasounds done in Makati Med, try to come early before the perinatologist's scheduled time. Reserve your slot, then go eat in Floating Island first. It may take a while before it's your turn.
2. Try to schedule it so that after your ultrasound, you can go straight to your OB (this is subject to your OB's schedule).
3. Bring a book, because it can take up to 2 hours waiting time.
4. If you have difficulty towards the end of your pregnancy, ask your OB and perinat if it can be done in an Ultrasound center. We used the Ultrasound Center in Festival (btw, they were also the first to notice the CDH.)
5. If the CAS is too expensive, be straightforward and ask your OB/Perinat if that needs to be done every week, or if it can be alternated with regular ultrasounds (which are anywhere from P800-P2,200, cheaper than congenital scans.)
6. If you are looking for a great perinatologist to do your CAS, ours was Dr. Ramon Reyles. He was everything we needed to be -- frank, confident in his readings, but kind in his honesty.

Hope this helps!




Comments

  1. Dr Reyles is the best :) he is very kind, gentle & sensitive, and does not charge too much.. plus he's an expert at what he does

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree! I remember waiting for a long time for each CAS because a lot of moms wanted him. He explained everything to us carefully each time

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    2. I totally agree! I remember waiting for a long time for each CAS because a lot of moms wanted him. He explained everything to us carefully each time

      Delete

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