"Complete molar pregnancy"

Around a year ago, I discovered I was 4 weeks pregnant. I had mixed emotions as I had been struggling with anxiety since having my child 15 months prior but at least this explained why I had been feeling unwell. Weeks pass and I was feeling like I was slowly being poisoned. I couldn’t eat, drink, sleep, look at bright colours or walk upright without vomiting. My weight became very low and my anxiety increased as I thought I was malnourishing my baby, not to mention trying to take care of the baby I already had. As I had never experienced morning sickness before, I believed this was normal until I started bleeding and cramping. I moved up my dating scan and the sonographer concluded that I was having a miscarriage.

The following week, I was waiting to pass the pregnancy to no avail. My tests showed that my HCG levels were rising and I was to have another dating scan as it was suspected that I was carrying twins and I had miscarried one and another remained. I still had all the symptoms so to me it made sense. At the second scan, the sonographer was silent and said that I needed to speak to my GP immediately. My GP had yet to receive the scan results but as my latest HCG test still continued to rise, they said I needed to go to the ER urgently. So without knowing why, I went to Rockingham Hospital.

7 hours later, I was finally seen. They ran their tests and another 4 hours later, they told me I was likely experiencing a type of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease known as a molar pregnancy and that I would be scheduled for a D&C in a couple days but I needed to return tomorrow for another ultrasound. I was elated to know that this would be over in a couple days. I return the next day (my partner carrying me to the car as I was unable to walk properly) only to be told that a D&C cannot be performed on a weekend so I would be booked in on a Monday. However it was officially changed to a Tuesday as the Monday was apparently full. I sign all the paperwork and tell myself it will be over soon.

The Monday afternoon arrives and I haven’t received the call to state the time my procedure is booked in for. I call them only to be told that my file can’t be located and there’s no record of my D&C being booked. I just cried. They suggested I call in the morning in hopes my file will be located by then. So that’s what I did, but not only was it not found, I recall the staff member on the phone scoffs and asks who told me that as if I made it up. At my whits end, I ask them to book my procedure immediately and they managed to squeeze me that morning. Little did I know that after fasting all day, I'd be waiting in the ward for 7 hours only for them to tell me my procedure has been push to the following afternoon. I just burst into tears. I felt like I was being disregarded every step of the way. For my mental and physical health I couldn’t stand to have this postponed another 24hrs so instead I was booked in for first thing in the morning. Thankfully, they came through and the moment I woke up, I immediately felt better than I had in months. I felt clean, clear and like a literal weight had been lifted. It was then confirmed that I had a complete molar pregnancy.

The next couple months, my recovery was going well and my weekly blood tests were going down until my blood tests started to rise and plateau. I was sent for a CT scan and more ultrasounds and this is when the word Methotrexate was first mentioned. It wasn’t until later that I found out it was chemotherapy. I wish this was made transparent to me and not left for me to find out later.