For Immediate Release
Essure Victims Challenge Global Sales Numbers of Essure Reported by Bayer
By Michelle Garcia
November 11, 2013
Miami, Florida: Women injured by Essure are crying foul to the statements made by Bayer that more than 750,000 women have been implanted by Essure worldwide, and they are using the company’s own documentation to support their claims.
“The number of women implanted have been grossly overstated in what can only be perceived as a blatant attempt to minimize the suffering caused to so many women by this device,” said Angie Firmalino, a victim of Essure who is working directly with Erin Brockovich to get Essure off the market. Bayer’s own documentation seems to support this statement. Page 3 of the Essure Instructions for Use, with a copyright date of 2013, which is found on the company’s own website, http://www.essuremd.com/, states the ”number of pregnancies reported from worldwide commercial launch in 2001 through end of 2010. 497,306 Essure kits sold during this time.” If this number is correct, then Bayer sales of Essure nearly doubled in a period of approximately one year. The same document also states “the number of devices actually implanted is not known.”
Angie Firmalino is one of the leaders of a Facebook group called Essure Problems which is challenging the safety and effectiveness of Essure, as well to help the many who at times, find themselves shunned by the doctors. She also maintains a website, www.essureproblems.webs.com, which has numerous photographs of mangled coils that have been surgically removed.
There is a perception that kits sold equates to women implanted. There are many women who have documentation which states that multiple kits were used during their procedure. “A sold kit is not a patient,’ says Firmalino, who is using evidence from ladies in her own group. A number of ladies in the group, including those who lead the group with Firmalino have multiple lot numbers, including one who was implanted on two separate days as her physician was unable to successfully achieve bi-lateral placement on the first visit. It took a second visit a month later to place the second coil. These women have patient information cards and medical records from their implanting doctors confirming that multiple kits were used during implantation. These same women wonder if Bayer has any idea of how many women have actually been implanted.
For information about the women who have been harmed by Essure, including contact information to interview women from specific cities or medical experts concerned about the safety of Essure, contact Michelle Garcia via email at Essureproblems@yahoo.com.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Essure Victims Meet With Executive Committee of AALG to Raise Awareness
For Immediate Release
Essure Victims Meet With Executive Committee of AALG to Raise Awareness
By Michelle Garcia
November 9, 2013
National Harbor, Oxenhill, MD: The leaders of the Essure Problems Facebook Group came to the Nation’s Capital ready to raise awareness to the harm caused to thousands by Essure. They found themselves unable to walk down the street without being approached by Surgeons who are familiar with Essure. These doctors expressed genuine sincerity about the issues women implanted by Essure have experienced and also expressed their gratitude for the efforts of the leadership to raise awareness to the dangers and unknown side effects caused by this device.
The greatest accomplishment was a meeting with the same leadership group and the Executive Committee of the AAGL, http://www.aagl.org/. Members of the Executive Committee, including Dr. Kenneth Loffer, FACOG, Executive VP/Medical Director and Ms. Linda Michels, Executive Director, were fully engaged for the hour long discussion where concerns were presented along with supporting documentation. The leadership of the AAGL committed to assisting women harmed by Essure with finding physicians with Essure removal, as well as unbiased studies into the safety and effectiveness of the device and most important, sending a memo to the thousands of physicians in their organization about the issues being raised so that proper attention can be paid to women who may be suffering because of adverse effects caused by Essure.
The meeting was planned to coincide with Essure Awareness Day, which is November 10th. This is also the start of Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology held just outside Washington D.C. at the Gaylord Convention Center.
For information about the women who have been harmed by Essure, including contact information to interview women from specific cities or medical experts concerned about the safety of Essure, contact Michelle Garcia via email at Essureproblems@yahoo.com.
Essure Victims Meet With Executive Committee of AALG to Raise Awareness
By Michelle Garcia
November 9, 2013
National Harbor, Oxenhill, MD: The leaders of the Essure Problems Facebook Group came to the Nation’s Capital ready to raise awareness to the harm caused to thousands by Essure. They found themselves unable to walk down the street without being approached by Surgeons who are familiar with Essure. These doctors expressed genuine sincerity about the issues women implanted by Essure have experienced and also expressed their gratitude for the efforts of the leadership to raise awareness to the dangers and unknown side effects caused by this device.
The greatest accomplishment was a meeting with the same leadership group and the Executive Committee of the AAGL, http://www.aagl.org/. Members of the Executive Committee, including Dr. Kenneth Loffer, FACOG, Executive VP/Medical Director and Ms. Linda Michels, Executive Director, were fully engaged for the hour long discussion where concerns were presented along with supporting documentation. The leadership of the AAGL committed to assisting women harmed by Essure with finding physicians with Essure removal, as well as unbiased studies into the safety and effectiveness of the device and most important, sending a memo to the thousands of physicians in their organization about the issues being raised so that proper attention can be paid to women who may be suffering because of adverse effects caused by Essure.
The meeting was planned to coincide with Essure Awareness Day, which is November 10th. This is also the start of Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology held just outside Washington D.C. at the Gaylord Convention Center.
For information about the women who have been harmed by Essure, including contact information to interview women from specific cities or medical experts concerned about the safety of Essure, contact Michelle Garcia via email at Essureproblems@yahoo.com.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Essure Awareness Day
For Immediate Release
Women Harmed by Bayer’s Essure Permanent Birth Control Rally in Washington, DC To Demand New Safety Studies
Miami, Florida: With the support of Erin Brockovich, women representing the thousands of women harmed by Essure Permanent Birth Control are coming to Washington, DC on Sunday, Nov 10 from 9am to 6pm and Monday, Nov 11 from 9am to Noon to demand that doctors and the FDA conduct new safety studies. The women are from across the country, including Miami, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York, Tampa and countless other cities across the country.
Essure is a permanent birth control device made by Bayer and approved by the FDA based on company studies indicating low complication rates and high effectiveness. A new investigation, http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/Essure-Birth-Control-FDA-Pain-Studies-I-Team.html, indicates that women suffering from debilitating pain were inaccurately reported by the company as having “excellent” responses to the birth control and being “very satisfied” with the device.
Sunday, Nov 10 will be Essure Awareness Day, as the women rally at the annual conference of the Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology will be held just outside Washington D.C. at the Gaylord Convention Center. http://www.aagl.org/annual-meeting/
The women will rally to demand that the FDA require new studies to replace the biased data revealed by NBC-TV’s Investigative team, http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/Essure-Birth-Control-FDA-Pain-Studies-I-Team.html.
For information about the women who have been harmed by Essure, including contact information to interview women from specific cities or medical experts concerned about the safety of Essure, contact Michelle Garcia via email at Essureproblems@yahoo.com.
Women Harmed by Bayer’s Essure Permanent Birth Control Rally in Washington, DC To Demand New Safety Studies
Miami, Florida: With the support of Erin Brockovich, women representing the thousands of women harmed by Essure Permanent Birth Control are coming to Washington, DC on Sunday, Nov 10 from 9am to 6pm and Monday, Nov 11 from 9am to Noon to demand that doctors and the FDA conduct new safety studies. The women are from across the country, including Miami, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York, Tampa and countless other cities across the country.
Essure is a permanent birth control device made by Bayer and approved by the FDA based on company studies indicating low complication rates and high effectiveness. A new investigation, http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/Essure-Birth-Control-FDA-Pain-Studies-I-Team.html, indicates that women suffering from debilitating pain were inaccurately reported by the company as having “excellent” responses to the birth control and being “very satisfied” with the device.
Sunday, Nov 10 will be Essure Awareness Day, as the women rally at the annual conference of the Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology will be held just outside Washington D.C. at the Gaylord Convention Center. http://www.aagl.org/annual-meeting/
The women will rally to demand that the FDA require new studies to replace the biased data revealed by NBC-TV’s Investigative team, http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/Essure-Birth-Control-FDA-Pain-Studies-I-Team.html.
For information about the women who have been harmed by Essure, including contact information to interview women from specific cities or medical experts concerned about the safety of Essure, contact Michelle Garcia via email at Essureproblems@yahoo.com.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Essure's Lost Souls
Hello,
Many of you have read the story about baby Julius and the story about baby Machin. They are just two of the countless victims who might be forgotten if it wasn’t for the story I’m about to write. These are the babies that were never born or the babies that didn’t grow to develop a heartbeat, or even a heart, the babies lost because these simply weren’t meant to be. This entry is dedicated to the e-babies lost due to a miscarriage and to their mom who suffered emotionally when they lost the baby.
On its website, Essure claims to be permanent birth control “to help you live without the worry of an unplanned pregnancy.” Women find out they are pregnant and the initial feeling are shock. After all, they have been told pregnancy is impossible by their doctors. Women are nurturers by nature, and after the shock wears off, the same feelings they felt with their other pregnancies start to surface. Pregnancy brought joy and happiness to these families. Even though their “family is complete,” they were going to make room for one more. Sadly, for so many, their unplanned pregnancy ended with a heart breaking miscarriage.
Florence has only one tube left because of damage caused by Essure. She was e-free at the time of her miscarriage, a baby conceived only 5 short weeks ago. This little life didn’t stand a chance. The fertilized egg was not able to travel into her uterus because of the significant scar tissue present in the one remaining tube. She suffered from the physical pain of an ectopic pregnancy and the emotional pain of a miscarriage. Had the decision been hers, she would have given birth to this little miracle baby, however, the decision wasn’t hers to make. She is so grateful that she didn’t have to undergo surgery to removal the tubal pregnancy as her body made the decision for her, the excitement of pregnancy taken away.
Maria is 35 years old. She is the mother of three boys and she didn’t want more children. She ended up with Essure when her doctor didn’t want to perform a tubal ligation because it ‘seemed to be too much trouble” over the weekend. He also said Essure was 100% effective and has no side effects. She feels like she was lied to, and based on everything I know, I have to agree with her. She wasn’t able to get an HSG because she lost her insurance. Sadly, she wasn’t even aware she was pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage. She was woken from a deep slumber on the morning of July 21, a Sunday she’ll never forget. She was in severe pain and passing very large baseball sized blood clots. She bled like this for 12 days thinking is was another one of those “abnormal” periods which had become the norm since Essure. The pain continued and she was also experiencing fevers and chills. She finally went to the emergency room where she was told she was pregnant and this pregnancy was ectopic. She also learned the Essure device had migrated and was logged in her fallopian tube. On August 27, she suffered a miscarriage and the baby left her body. She calls August 27th the worst day of her life. Sadly, she continues to suffer with the other symptoms which seem to be caused by Essure including mood swings, sharp abdominal pain, migraines and muscle pain. Essure is an endless nightmare that caused her heartbreak.
Heartbreaking is how Melissa describes the experience of knowing she lost her baby. She woke in the middle of the night covered in blood, and managed to get to the bathroom to clean up. She then started passing clots. Because she had been sterilized with Essure, being pregnant was the furthest thought from her mind. Thirteen months prior, her marriage had crumbled and she was now very happily involved with a new man who she was going to marry. Sadly, the children they wanted together weren’t possible, at least, weren’t’ supposed to be possible. After all, Essure is ‘highly effective’ and ‘permanent.’ Three days before the miscarriage, a home pregnancy test showed she was pregnant. She and her fiancé were over the moon with joy. A visit to the doctor’s office confirmed her worst fear; she suffered a miscarriage that night. When she lost the baby, she didn't know how to feel. She cried all night for the baby she lost and everything Essure has made me lose since I had it done. She is not the person she was before Essure. Time with her kids was gone, her marriage was gone, and the dream of a second chance family to add to her family with her first husband was also lost. Instead of joy, she is now looking at a hysterectomy at 31.
Tammy kept telling herself she wasn’t pregnant, but she was feeling pregnant. She was second guessing how she was feeling because she had Essure and Essure is permanent and effective. About a month later, her husband told her she pregnant. She remembers yelling at him in denial. She remembers saying ‘I can’t get pregnant.’ She even went as far as to show him the Essure website just to prove to him and to herself that she wasn’t carrying a baby. She took three home pregnancy tests and they all showed negative. She then looked on the web expecting to find more proof to show him. Instead, she found that Essure wasn’t as effective as she was told by her doctor and it’s possible she was pregnant. Tammy and her husband have always dreamed of a big family. Sadly, the big family wasn’t an option and she suffered four miscarriages before Essure. She chose to get Essure because of the emotional toll of the miscarriages. Little did she know, Essure would only lead to more pain. An ultrasound confirmed she was pregnant. The same ultrasound showed she had an Essure coil expelling out of her fallopian tube into her uterus. She was sent to the emergency room where she suffered her fifth miscarriage, and first caused by Essure. She experienced joy and sadness all in one day. This is more emotions than one person should have to process in one day.
Marcia found herself 16 days late and feeling nauseous and tired. She was also experiencing breast pain, which is a common sign of pregnancy. She had had Essure for 7 months and like the other ladies in these stories, pregnancy was the further from her mind. Essure is, after all, very effective. She took a pregnancy test anyway, and was shocked to see a positive result. Three days later, she drove to Illinois and unpacked her van. A few hours later, she was suffering from severe back pain, and cramping. She went to the bathroom thinking her period finally started. She simply didn’t believe the positive home test because she had Essure. Remember it’s highly effective. Her ‘period’ wasn’t normal at all. She was passing clots of all sizes and grey looking tissue. She sent pictures to a friend who is a nurse. Her friend asked her about the results of the home pregnancy test. When Marcia told her it was positive, her friend told her that she already knew what it was. Marcia estimates she was about 7 weeks when she lost this baby. She had two babies under three at home, including one that was suffered with severe reflux. They say that you are never given more than you can handle, and what happens next is in God’s hands. Even though she was in denial, she was actually getting used to the idea of being pregnant. She held in lots of emotions until she got home. She cried in her husband’s arms and somehow manages to get along with daily life. She didn’t mourn until very recently when the realization hit her. She would have had a 1 year old running around with her 3 1/2 year old and 2 year old.
Gina had Essure done in 2011. In October, 2012, she suffered the sadness that comes with a miscarriage when she lost the baby she had been carrying for 13 weeks. She was shocked, and super excited when she found out she was pregnant. Her husband, active duty military, had just deployed and she couldn’t wait to give him the news via Skype. Sadly, she wouldn’t be able to share the news of a positive test. Instead, through tears and across thousands of miles, she would have to share with her husband that she suffered horrible bleeding which resulted in her going to the emergency room. While at the emergency room, she would watch on an ultrasound screen the image of her baby as it slowly lost its heartbeat one the screen in front of her. She watched her baby die. Gina had to deliver this baby, which was a baby girl that she named Aurora. Her doctor believes that an Essure coil caused a perforation that resulted in the miscarriage. Aurora will always be in Gina’s heart. She is the reason that Gina fights against Essure. No one should stare a screen and watch their baby die.
These are just a few of the stories representing the unborn babies lost because of Essure. These little ones never had a chance and their mom’s will never forget them.
Many of you have read the story about baby Julius and the story about baby Machin. They are just two of the countless victims who might be forgotten if it wasn’t for the story I’m about to write. These are the babies that were never born or the babies that didn’t grow to develop a heartbeat, or even a heart, the babies lost because these simply weren’t meant to be. This entry is dedicated to the e-babies lost due to a miscarriage and to their mom who suffered emotionally when they lost the baby.
On its website, Essure claims to be permanent birth control “to help you live without the worry of an unplanned pregnancy.” Women find out they are pregnant and the initial feeling are shock. After all, they have been told pregnancy is impossible by their doctors. Women are nurturers by nature, and after the shock wears off, the same feelings they felt with their other pregnancies start to surface. Pregnancy brought joy and happiness to these families. Even though their “family is complete,” they were going to make room for one more. Sadly, for so many, their unplanned pregnancy ended with a heart breaking miscarriage.
Florence has only one tube left because of damage caused by Essure. She was e-free at the time of her miscarriage, a baby conceived only 5 short weeks ago. This little life didn’t stand a chance. The fertilized egg was not able to travel into her uterus because of the significant scar tissue present in the one remaining tube. She suffered from the physical pain of an ectopic pregnancy and the emotional pain of a miscarriage. Had the decision been hers, she would have given birth to this little miracle baby, however, the decision wasn’t hers to make. She is so grateful that she didn’t have to undergo surgery to removal the tubal pregnancy as her body made the decision for her, the excitement of pregnancy taken away.
Maria is 35 years old. She is the mother of three boys and she didn’t want more children. She ended up with Essure when her doctor didn’t want to perform a tubal ligation because it ‘seemed to be too much trouble” over the weekend. He also said Essure was 100% effective and has no side effects. She feels like she was lied to, and based on everything I know, I have to agree with her. She wasn’t able to get an HSG because she lost her insurance. Sadly, she wasn’t even aware she was pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage. She was woken from a deep slumber on the morning of July 21, a Sunday she’ll never forget. She was in severe pain and passing very large baseball sized blood clots. She bled like this for 12 days thinking is was another one of those “abnormal” periods which had become the norm since Essure. The pain continued and she was also experiencing fevers and chills. She finally went to the emergency room where she was told she was pregnant and this pregnancy was ectopic. She also learned the Essure device had migrated and was logged in her fallopian tube. On August 27, she suffered a miscarriage and the baby left her body. She calls August 27th the worst day of her life. Sadly, she continues to suffer with the other symptoms which seem to be caused by Essure including mood swings, sharp abdominal pain, migraines and muscle pain. Essure is an endless nightmare that caused her heartbreak.
Heartbreaking is how Melissa describes the experience of knowing she lost her baby. She woke in the middle of the night covered in blood, and managed to get to the bathroom to clean up. She then started passing clots. Because she had been sterilized with Essure, being pregnant was the furthest thought from her mind. Thirteen months prior, her marriage had crumbled and she was now very happily involved with a new man who she was going to marry. Sadly, the children they wanted together weren’t possible, at least, weren’t’ supposed to be possible. After all, Essure is ‘highly effective’ and ‘permanent.’ Three days before the miscarriage, a home pregnancy test showed she was pregnant. She and her fiancé were over the moon with joy. A visit to the doctor’s office confirmed her worst fear; she suffered a miscarriage that night. When she lost the baby, she didn't know how to feel. She cried all night for the baby she lost and everything Essure has made me lose since I had it done. She is not the person she was before Essure. Time with her kids was gone, her marriage was gone, and the dream of a second chance family to add to her family with her first husband was also lost. Instead of joy, she is now looking at a hysterectomy at 31.
Tammy kept telling herself she wasn’t pregnant, but she was feeling pregnant. She was second guessing how she was feeling because she had Essure and Essure is permanent and effective. About a month later, her husband told her she pregnant. She remembers yelling at him in denial. She remembers saying ‘I can’t get pregnant.’ She even went as far as to show him the Essure website just to prove to him and to herself that she wasn’t carrying a baby. She took three home pregnancy tests and they all showed negative. She then looked on the web expecting to find more proof to show him. Instead, she found that Essure wasn’t as effective as she was told by her doctor and it’s possible she was pregnant. Tammy and her husband have always dreamed of a big family. Sadly, the big family wasn’t an option and she suffered four miscarriages before Essure. She chose to get Essure because of the emotional toll of the miscarriages. Little did she know, Essure would only lead to more pain. An ultrasound confirmed she was pregnant. The same ultrasound showed she had an Essure coil expelling out of her fallopian tube into her uterus. She was sent to the emergency room where she suffered her fifth miscarriage, and first caused by Essure. She experienced joy and sadness all in one day. This is more emotions than one person should have to process in one day.
Marcia found herself 16 days late and feeling nauseous and tired. She was also experiencing breast pain, which is a common sign of pregnancy. She had had Essure for 7 months and like the other ladies in these stories, pregnancy was the further from her mind. Essure is, after all, very effective. She took a pregnancy test anyway, and was shocked to see a positive result. Three days later, she drove to Illinois and unpacked her van. A few hours later, she was suffering from severe back pain, and cramping. She went to the bathroom thinking her period finally started. She simply didn’t believe the positive home test because she had Essure. Remember it’s highly effective. Her ‘period’ wasn’t normal at all. She was passing clots of all sizes and grey looking tissue. She sent pictures to a friend who is a nurse. Her friend asked her about the results of the home pregnancy test. When Marcia told her it was positive, her friend told her that she already knew what it was. Marcia estimates she was about 7 weeks when she lost this baby. She had two babies under three at home, including one that was suffered with severe reflux. They say that you are never given more than you can handle, and what happens next is in God’s hands. Even though she was in denial, she was actually getting used to the idea of being pregnant. She held in lots of emotions until she got home. She cried in her husband’s arms and somehow manages to get along with daily life. She didn’t mourn until very recently when the realization hit her. She would have had a 1 year old running around with her 3 1/2 year old and 2 year old.
Gina had Essure done in 2011. In October, 2012, she suffered the sadness that comes with a miscarriage when she lost the baby she had been carrying for 13 weeks. She was shocked, and super excited when she found out she was pregnant. Her husband, active duty military, had just deployed and she couldn’t wait to give him the news via Skype. Sadly, she wouldn’t be able to share the news of a positive test. Instead, through tears and across thousands of miles, she would have to share with her husband that she suffered horrible bleeding which resulted in her going to the emergency room. While at the emergency room, she would watch on an ultrasound screen the image of her baby as it slowly lost its heartbeat one the screen in front of her. She watched her baby die. Gina had to deliver this baby, which was a baby girl that she named Aurora. Her doctor believes that an Essure coil caused a perforation that resulted in the miscarriage. Aurora will always be in Gina’s heart. She is the reason that Gina fights against Essure. No one should stare a screen and watch their baby die.
These are just a few of the stories representing the unborn babies lost because of Essure. These little ones never had a chance and their mom’s will never forget them.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Life Interrupted, the Story of Baby Machin
Hello,
As one of the administrators of the Essure Problems support page, I have read countless stories of pain and suffering caused by this nightmare device. A few months ago, a young woman reached out to share her story with me privately. Outside of her immediate circle, I was the only person who knew of the pain caused to her and her family by Essure. I write this one knowing that no matter how hard I try, I can never come up with the words to express that pain that Angela has felt. Those words just don't exist.
In June of 2011, Angela gave birth to her third child. She and her husband decided that Angela would have the Essure procedure done as it was highly recommended by her doctor. She had the procedure done in September of 2011, and at the time, she didn't regret her decision to be sterilized. She knew her family was complete. Three months later, in December, the HSG was performed and this test showed that her tubes were occluded and she was sterile.
Angela noted that she started having side effects shortly after the devices were implanted. Like so many women, she is allergic to nickel and she was not aware that Essure coils are made of a nickel alloy. Some of her symptoms included heavier periods, night sweats, fainting, cramping and severe lower back pains which resemble the back pain that women experience when they are in labor. Staying awake for longer than a few hours became a challenge and she felt like she was living in a drug induced state. Angela had three children, the youngest of which was not even a year old, and the issues with her health were impacting her ability to be a mom.
In April of 2012, Angela took a home pregnancy test. She didn't expect it to be positive as her doctor assured her that she could NOT get pregnant on Essure, especially after her HSG confirmed her fallopian tubes were blocked. The results of that home pregnancy test were positive. If that test was correct, she was now pregnant with her fourth child. Her doctor’s office refused to believe that Essure had failed and she was pregnant. A rep for Essure had even told her doctor that pregnancies with Essure are only the result of errors committed by the physician. Her doctor performed a blood test and this also showed she was pregnant.
Angela was told it was likely the pregnancy would be ectopic or end in a miscarriage due to the Essure devices. She thought this was a case as she was having significant cramping and spotting. Her doctor’s office performed an ultrasound and they shared with Angela that the gestational sac was about 4 times larger than normal, indicative of a pre miscarry situation. For the next several days, Angela lived with the symptoms of what she thought was a miscarriage. She and her husband struggled to come to terms with this sad loss. This, after the shock of finding out they were pregnant in the 1st place. Two weeks later, Angela was told by her doctor that she had not miscarried and that the pregnancy was progressing. This was just one of many moments on the emotional roller coaster for George and Angela. They had experienced the complete shock & then acceptance of an unplanned pregnancy, had decided to embrace the situation as they decided (along with the doctor) that it was a miracle baby. Then, they had mourned the impending loss of the miracle, only to have renewed joy when they learned the baby wasn't lost.
Angela's doctor was still very concerned about the baby. The enlarged gestational sac simply wasn't normal and he referred her to a gestational specialist. Over two separate visits, tests revealed the most heartbreaking scenario. The specialist determined that the baby was not developing properly. A diagnosis of extreme radial dysplasia or radial clubbing was shared with Angela and George. The doctor described the case as one of, if not the most, extreme he had seen. At first, they were told it was only on one side of the upper body, then it became both sides, and then it became club foot as well. The miracle baby was severely deformed. Sadly, they also learned that children with radial conditions generally experience other potentially life threatening disorders including cardiac and renal conditions. There were also strong concerns that neurological disorders may be present.
Angela started to research what may have caused this condition as she was assured that it was not genetic, and her 3 other children were all healthy. The only difference in this pregnancy was the presence of Essure. Angela discovered that Radial Clubbing is most often caused by exposure to a carcinogen during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Essure is made out of nickel, which is a carcinogen. Angela lives in Texas and had no other environmental factors which would have contributed to this condition.
The news that was shared with George and Angela about the health issues impacting the baby were not shared in one visit. It happened over the course of several closely spaced visits. Each time they saw their doctor, it just got worse and worse. For this baby to have any chance at a somewhat normal life, multiple surgeries would have been necessary as soon as the baby was born, and that is only if the baby was able to be carried to term, and survived outside the womb. Normalcy for this baby would include a life bound to a wheelchair, as well as the necessity of other medical support devices. Again, that is if this baby survived outside the womb. Sadly, the odds were against this happening. With the doctor’s prognosis, George & Angela had to consider what would happen to the quality of life for their three existing children as well as the quality of life for the unborn baby.
Angela is riding this nightmarish roller coaster of emotions and with George; they were living out the most painful experience of their lives. During this heart wrenching ordeal, Angela's aunt called to tell her that she had dreamt of Angela's deceased younger sister. In the dream, her sister was in heaven, holding and caring for George and Angela's baby. Her aunt also told her "not all angels are born in heaven." George and Angela made the very painful and personal decision to send this Angel back to God’s loving embrace by terminating the pregnancy. In July of 2012, she had a partial hysterectomy. Since that surgery, her other side effects have subsided. It was confirmed that she was fully occluded at the time of the hysterectomy and her coils never migrated.
Angela hopes that sharing this story will somehow make a difference. Maybe her story will stop someone from getting Essure or it may enlighten women who are pregnant to the risks this device poses to an unborn child. There are women who have given birth to babies, e-babies, conceived while they had Essure. These babies may already have or may develop health issues that have not yet been connected to Essure.
I'm going to end this blog by quoting something Angela recently typed on our Essure Problems Facebook Group, "if we E survivors can’t get justice for the circumstances forced upon us, then hopefully we can at least help someone else make a more informed decision. Maybe we can even save a life."
As one of the administrators of the Essure Problems support page, I have read countless stories of pain and suffering caused by this nightmare device. A few months ago, a young woman reached out to share her story with me privately. Outside of her immediate circle, I was the only person who knew of the pain caused to her and her family by Essure. I write this one knowing that no matter how hard I try, I can never come up with the words to express that pain that Angela has felt. Those words just don't exist.
In June of 2011, Angela gave birth to her third child. She and her husband decided that Angela would have the Essure procedure done as it was highly recommended by her doctor. She had the procedure done in September of 2011, and at the time, she didn't regret her decision to be sterilized. She knew her family was complete. Three months later, in December, the HSG was performed and this test showed that her tubes were occluded and she was sterile.
Angela noted that she started having side effects shortly after the devices were implanted. Like so many women, she is allergic to nickel and she was not aware that Essure coils are made of a nickel alloy. Some of her symptoms included heavier periods, night sweats, fainting, cramping and severe lower back pains which resemble the back pain that women experience when they are in labor. Staying awake for longer than a few hours became a challenge and she felt like she was living in a drug induced state. Angela had three children, the youngest of which was not even a year old, and the issues with her health were impacting her ability to be a mom.
In April of 2012, Angela took a home pregnancy test. She didn't expect it to be positive as her doctor assured her that she could NOT get pregnant on Essure, especially after her HSG confirmed her fallopian tubes were blocked. The results of that home pregnancy test were positive. If that test was correct, she was now pregnant with her fourth child. Her doctor’s office refused to believe that Essure had failed and she was pregnant. A rep for Essure had even told her doctor that pregnancies with Essure are only the result of errors committed by the physician. Her doctor performed a blood test and this also showed she was pregnant.
Angela was told it was likely the pregnancy would be ectopic or end in a miscarriage due to the Essure devices. She thought this was a case as she was having significant cramping and spotting. Her doctor’s office performed an ultrasound and they shared with Angela that the gestational sac was about 4 times larger than normal, indicative of a pre miscarry situation. For the next several days, Angela lived with the symptoms of what she thought was a miscarriage. She and her husband struggled to come to terms with this sad loss. This, after the shock of finding out they were pregnant in the 1st place. Two weeks later, Angela was told by her doctor that she had not miscarried and that the pregnancy was progressing. This was just one of many moments on the emotional roller coaster for George and Angela. They had experienced the complete shock & then acceptance of an unplanned pregnancy, had decided to embrace the situation as they decided (along with the doctor) that it was a miracle baby. Then, they had mourned the impending loss of the miracle, only to have renewed joy when they learned the baby wasn't lost.
Angela's doctor was still very concerned about the baby. The enlarged gestational sac simply wasn't normal and he referred her to a gestational specialist. Over two separate visits, tests revealed the most heartbreaking scenario. The specialist determined that the baby was not developing properly. A diagnosis of extreme radial dysplasia or radial clubbing was shared with Angela and George. The doctor described the case as one of, if not the most, extreme he had seen. At first, they were told it was only on one side of the upper body, then it became both sides, and then it became club foot as well. The miracle baby was severely deformed. Sadly, they also learned that children with radial conditions generally experience other potentially life threatening disorders including cardiac and renal conditions. There were also strong concerns that neurological disorders may be present.
Angela started to research what may have caused this condition as she was assured that it was not genetic, and her 3 other children were all healthy. The only difference in this pregnancy was the presence of Essure. Angela discovered that Radial Clubbing is most often caused by exposure to a carcinogen during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Essure is made out of nickel, which is a carcinogen. Angela lives in Texas and had no other environmental factors which would have contributed to this condition.
The news that was shared with George and Angela about the health issues impacting the baby were not shared in one visit. It happened over the course of several closely spaced visits. Each time they saw their doctor, it just got worse and worse. For this baby to have any chance at a somewhat normal life, multiple surgeries would have been necessary as soon as the baby was born, and that is only if the baby was able to be carried to term, and survived outside the womb. Normalcy for this baby would include a life bound to a wheelchair, as well as the necessity of other medical support devices. Again, that is if this baby survived outside the womb. Sadly, the odds were against this happening. With the doctor’s prognosis, George & Angela had to consider what would happen to the quality of life for their three existing children as well as the quality of life for the unborn baby.
Angela is riding this nightmarish roller coaster of emotions and with George; they were living out the most painful experience of their lives. During this heart wrenching ordeal, Angela's aunt called to tell her that she had dreamt of Angela's deceased younger sister. In the dream, her sister was in heaven, holding and caring for George and Angela's baby. Her aunt also told her "not all angels are born in heaven." George and Angela made the very painful and personal decision to send this Angel back to God’s loving embrace by terminating the pregnancy. In July of 2012, she had a partial hysterectomy. Since that surgery, her other side effects have subsided. It was confirmed that she was fully occluded at the time of the hysterectomy and her coils never migrated.
Angela hopes that sharing this story will somehow make a difference. Maybe her story will stop someone from getting Essure or it may enlighten women who are pregnant to the risks this device poses to an unborn child. There are women who have given birth to babies, e-babies, conceived while they had Essure. These babies may already have or may develop health issues that have not yet been connected to Essure.
I'm going to end this blog by quoting something Angela recently typed on our Essure Problems Facebook Group, "if we E survivors can’t get justice for the circumstances forced upon us, then hopefully we can at least help someone else make a more informed decision. Maybe we can even save a life."
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Labor with Essure - Life Altering
Hello,
As many of you know, the life of a baby boy was lost when his mom suffered complications during labor. Sadly, this isn't the first time a mom has suffered complications during labor. This entry tells the story of the day Luke Schmidt was born. It’s the day his dad, Jon, almost became a widow and his wife, Lora, almost became a statistic. This story is testament to dangers a mom with Essure experiences during pregnancy and labor.
September 1, 2011 is a day that Jon and Lora will never forget. Luke came into the world, and he's a miracle baby. His mom, Lora, had been implanted with Essure and the odds of pregnancy are incredibly slim if you believe the numbers published by Conceptus/Bayer. Essure failed Lora and she was expecting her next child.
Labor was not easy for Lora, but its post delivery which left Lora in the fight of her life. After the delivery, Lora was bleeding internally and the doctors we're struggling to locate the source of the bleeding. For the next 8 hours, starting at 2pm, several attempts were made to rectify the crisis including at emergency DNC.
At around 10:30pm, the doctors assured Jon that Lora would be fine and they resolved the issues that caused the bleeding. Jon had heard that many times, and he was praying this was finally true. It seemed to be that was the case because the doctors went home, Lora's parents left and Jon sent texts that everything was finally okay.
Baby Luke hadn't been named yet, and he was in the nursery waiting to be held by both Mom and Dad so they could decide on the right name for the miracle baby. Lora had basically been through hell and was very weak. She had bled internally for over 8 hours, and that much blood loss takes an extreme toll on someone. Jon is doing the best he can do for his wife, when in a moment like this, all he can really do is be there.
It’s now about 11:15pm, and the crisis is not over despite having been told this multiple times by multiple doctors. Lora suddenly passes a blood clot which, in Jon's estimate, is the size of a small baby. Her blood pressure crashes and reads at dangerously low 28/51. Lora starts the first of three blood transfusions and emergency surgeons are called in from home. What was once a quite place with only Jon and Lora has erupted into complete chaos. There are at least 10 to 12 nurses in the room as well as the anesthesiologist who is barking orders after bursting into the room. It’s the actions of this one person which Jon credits with saving the life of Lora. The bed is titled at a severe angle with her feet in the air and head to the floor. An IV is set in her neck and the transfusions are being fed into her from this vein which is very high so the blood would flow faster.
Jon took a moment to survey Lora and the nurses in the room. Four are visibly shaking and shedding tears. It was at that moment when the trauma of the day fully hit him. Jon is now shedding tears while in complete shock. Lora is suddenly on the move, being wheeled into surgery again. It’s not the first time she's been in that part of the hospital. As they are running, Lora calls out to Jon, "Mister" she says which is her pet name for him. She is saying this while drifting in and out of consciousness. They are now running full speed to the elevator with a full team of medical professionals. The very short elevator ride feels like an eternity. Jon is holding Lora's hand tight and she says "It hurts Mr., I can't do this anymore".
Finally out of the elevator, they are off at full sprint again to the OR. The IV cart gets caught in the floor board and falls to the floor causing Lora's arm to get pulled back as the bed is still moving. She screams in pain and the doctor lifts it back up and the sprint starts again. "I'm sorry Baby it won't happen again" Jon says to Laura. The IV then hits the top of the next door jam and falls again which results in more screams from Lora. Jon lets out a curse and to the doctor and takes control of the IV cart himself, all the while, he's NOT letting go of Lora's hand.
They reach the surgery doors and Lora asks "Mister is the baby OK?" "Yes, pretty girl, he is fine. He is with the nurses." She then asks Jon if she did okay. He tells her he's proud of her and she did great. "Why is this happening Mister?" Lora wants to know. Jon says that he doesn't. Lora then asks if she's going to be okay. Jon says yes, reassuring her that they know what it is this time. The truth is they still don't know what it is and he has no idea if Lora is going to be okay.
"You're going to be fine, I love you so much baby" are the last words Jon is able to say before his journey with the gurney comes to an end. He can't follow Lora the rest of the way and he stands there watching them continue to run with Lora. Tears are streaming down his face and he's surrounded by dead silence. It's now about 1:30am and he's been up for almost 36 hours with no food for the past 24 hours. He's not sure how he's functioning, and he's certainly not able to think straight. The fear of Lora not making it hits him hard in the eerily cold and silent hallway. All he can think about are his last words may have been a lie. He truly doesn't know if she'll be okay. He's alone in the waiting room when he notices a light shining through the small single stained glass church window which is in the chapel near the lobby. Jon is now sobbing and he prays.
"Dear God, I know I don't do this very often. I'm sorry that I only talk to you when I want something. But I really need your help right now." Jon drops to his knees as he continues to pray. "I promise I'll be a better person. I'll quit smoking. If this is because I didn't really want another baby, I'm Sorry. Please don't punish her for what I have done. I can't do this without her. Please God, I'll do anything."
A door opens and he hopes it’s someone with news about Lora. Is she OK? Is she alright now? It’s the janitor, who slowly walks past him without making any eye contact. It’s now 2:30 am and he realizes the last communication with family was "everything is fine". He calls her parents and they don't answer. Call. No answer. Pray. Cry. Call again. Cry some more. More prayers. Where is the un-named baby? Is he ok? More tears. Pray again? He then wonders "am I going to get in trouble for ignoring the baby?" Call again, still not answer. More praying, more crying. He then starts pacing and calls his mom. He manages to explain the events of the last few hours through intense sobs and she's on her way.
Finally, the anesthesiologist comes out. "Mr. Schmidt," he says, "We found the abdominal tear. I assure you she will be fine." Jon has heard this so many times that he tells the doctor that he doesn't believe him. He said "I guarantee you she is fine now" and, thankfully, it was finally true. Lora was in ICU in and medically induced coma and she really did make a full recovery. The tear was most likely caused by an Essure coil.
Baby Luke was named a few days later and he is the most precious gift. His birthday will always be full of very powerful emotions and memories. It’s one of the best and one of the worst days of Jon's life.
Jon and Lora so graciously share their story in hopes that others will be aware of what could happen.
As many of you know, the life of a baby boy was lost when his mom suffered complications during labor. Sadly, this isn't the first time a mom has suffered complications during labor. This entry tells the story of the day Luke Schmidt was born. It’s the day his dad, Jon, almost became a widow and his wife, Lora, almost became a statistic. This story is testament to dangers a mom with Essure experiences during pregnancy and labor.
September 1, 2011 is a day that Jon and Lora will never forget. Luke came into the world, and he's a miracle baby. His mom, Lora, had been implanted with Essure and the odds of pregnancy are incredibly slim if you believe the numbers published by Conceptus/Bayer. Essure failed Lora and she was expecting her next child.
Labor was not easy for Lora, but its post delivery which left Lora in the fight of her life. After the delivery, Lora was bleeding internally and the doctors we're struggling to locate the source of the bleeding. For the next 8 hours, starting at 2pm, several attempts were made to rectify the crisis including at emergency DNC.
At around 10:30pm, the doctors assured Jon that Lora would be fine and they resolved the issues that caused the bleeding. Jon had heard that many times, and he was praying this was finally true. It seemed to be that was the case because the doctors went home, Lora's parents left and Jon sent texts that everything was finally okay.
Baby Luke hadn't been named yet, and he was in the nursery waiting to be held by both Mom and Dad so they could decide on the right name for the miracle baby. Lora had basically been through hell and was very weak. She had bled internally for over 8 hours, and that much blood loss takes an extreme toll on someone. Jon is doing the best he can do for his wife, when in a moment like this, all he can really do is be there.
It’s now about 11:15pm, and the crisis is not over despite having been told this multiple times by multiple doctors. Lora suddenly passes a blood clot which, in Jon's estimate, is the size of a small baby. Her blood pressure crashes and reads at dangerously low 28/51. Lora starts the first of three blood transfusions and emergency surgeons are called in from home. What was once a quite place with only Jon and Lora has erupted into complete chaos. There are at least 10 to 12 nurses in the room as well as the anesthesiologist who is barking orders after bursting into the room. It’s the actions of this one person which Jon credits with saving the life of Lora. The bed is titled at a severe angle with her feet in the air and head to the floor. An IV is set in her neck and the transfusions are being fed into her from this vein which is very high so the blood would flow faster.
Jon took a moment to survey Lora and the nurses in the room. Four are visibly shaking and shedding tears. It was at that moment when the trauma of the day fully hit him. Jon is now shedding tears while in complete shock. Lora is suddenly on the move, being wheeled into surgery again. It’s not the first time she's been in that part of the hospital. As they are running, Lora calls out to Jon, "Mister" she says which is her pet name for him. She is saying this while drifting in and out of consciousness. They are now running full speed to the elevator with a full team of medical professionals. The very short elevator ride feels like an eternity. Jon is holding Lora's hand tight and she says "It hurts Mr., I can't do this anymore".
Finally out of the elevator, they are off at full sprint again to the OR. The IV cart gets caught in the floor board and falls to the floor causing Lora's arm to get pulled back as the bed is still moving. She screams in pain and the doctor lifts it back up and the sprint starts again. "I'm sorry Baby it won't happen again" Jon says to Laura. The IV then hits the top of the next door jam and falls again which results in more screams from Lora. Jon lets out a curse and to the doctor and takes control of the IV cart himself, all the while, he's NOT letting go of Lora's hand.
They reach the surgery doors and Lora asks "Mister is the baby OK?" "Yes, pretty girl, he is fine. He is with the nurses." She then asks Jon if she did okay. He tells her he's proud of her and she did great. "Why is this happening Mister?" Lora wants to know. Jon says that he doesn't. Lora then asks if she's going to be okay. Jon says yes, reassuring her that they know what it is this time. The truth is they still don't know what it is and he has no idea if Lora is going to be okay.
"You're going to be fine, I love you so much baby" are the last words Jon is able to say before his journey with the gurney comes to an end. He can't follow Lora the rest of the way and he stands there watching them continue to run with Lora. Tears are streaming down his face and he's surrounded by dead silence. It's now about 1:30am and he's been up for almost 36 hours with no food for the past 24 hours. He's not sure how he's functioning, and he's certainly not able to think straight. The fear of Lora not making it hits him hard in the eerily cold and silent hallway. All he can think about are his last words may have been a lie. He truly doesn't know if she'll be okay. He's alone in the waiting room when he notices a light shining through the small single stained glass church window which is in the chapel near the lobby. Jon is now sobbing and he prays.
"Dear God, I know I don't do this very often. I'm sorry that I only talk to you when I want something. But I really need your help right now." Jon drops to his knees as he continues to pray. "I promise I'll be a better person. I'll quit smoking. If this is because I didn't really want another baby, I'm Sorry. Please don't punish her for what I have done. I can't do this without her. Please God, I'll do anything."
A door opens and he hopes it’s someone with news about Lora. Is she OK? Is she alright now? It’s the janitor, who slowly walks past him without making any eye contact. It’s now 2:30 am and he realizes the last communication with family was "everything is fine". He calls her parents and they don't answer. Call. No answer. Pray. Cry. Call again. Cry some more. More prayers. Where is the un-named baby? Is he ok? More tears. Pray again? He then wonders "am I going to get in trouble for ignoring the baby?" Call again, still not answer. More praying, more crying. He then starts pacing and calls his mom. He manages to explain the events of the last few hours through intense sobs and she's on her way.
Finally, the anesthesiologist comes out. "Mr. Schmidt," he says, "We found the abdominal tear. I assure you she will be fine." Jon has heard this so many times that he tells the doctor that he doesn't believe him. He said "I guarantee you she is fine now" and, thankfully, it was finally true. Lora was in ICU in and medically induced coma and she really did make a full recovery. The tear was most likely caused by an Essure coil.
Baby Luke was named a few days later and he is the most precious gift. His birthday will always be full of very powerful emotions and memories. It’s one of the best and one of the worst days of Jon's life.
Jon and Lora so graciously share their story in hopes that others will be aware of what could happen.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Conflict of Interest
Hello,
In another one of my naive moments about the 'system', I thought those who approved the devices were independent of the manufacturer, and those who oversaw the studies were independent, and those who had oversight at the FDA were also independent. On paper, it seems like it would work, except is doesn't exist on paper. It doesn't exist at all. I was completely wrong and so are countless others.
I've spent several months in my battle against Essure, and the FDA. During this time, I've looked at countless documents, many of them found by Krystal Donahue, who is one of the administrators of the Essure Problems Facebook Group. We've seen the names of so many doctors, hospitals, clinics - they are starting to look the same and for a while, I began to think I was reading the same documents. Then the light clicked - it’s not the same documents, it’s the same people or different people from the same hospital over and over. What I thought was independent isn't even close.
Let's start with the members of the FDA's OB/GYN Devices Panel. These are the current members:
Chair
Dr. Thommaso Falcone
Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
Dr. Ann J. Davis
Professor
Dartmouth Medical School
Hanover, NH
Dr. Frank W. Ling
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Obstetrician
Women’s Health Specialists, PLLC
Germantown, TN
Dr. Paula J. Hillard
Professor and Chief Gynecologic Specialties
Stanford Univ. School of Medicine
Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Stanford, CA
Lisa M. Maldonado, MPH
Expertise: Reproductive Health Care
Executive Director
Reproductive Health Access Project
New York, NY
Dr. Lisa E. Moore
Associate Professor
University of New Mexico
Dept of OB/GYN; Div. of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Albuquerque, NM
Conceptus has its own Advisory Board. Members of the Conceptus advisory committee are paid consulting fees for their services and those with the title of Director, are REALLY paid. The list of these physicians is below:
Dr. Linda Bradley
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
Andrew Brill MD
Conceptus Director
Sutter Health / Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation
San Francisco, CA
Mark Levie MD
Conceptus Director
Montefiore Centennial Wmns Ctr
New York, NY
Viviane Connor MD
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Weston and West Palm Beach, Florida
Malcolm Munro
Director of Gynecologic Services,
Served at Study Chair for Stop - precursor to Essure
Los Angeles Medical Center at Kaiser Permanente,
Los Angeles, CA
Robert Zurawin
Baylor College of Medicine
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Houston, Texas
I hope you noticed what jumps out at me - Cleveland Clinic. It’s really interesting that doctors from Cleveland Clinic sit on the OB/GYN Advisory Board of the FDA and are also members of the Conceptus advisory panel. I smell a RAT. In my FOIA request to the FDA, I've asked for all emails between Conceptus, their advisory board, and members of the FDA advisory board. My FOIA was submitted in March of 2013, and I'm still waiting...Wonder why?
Dear Dr. Linda Bradley, your boss at Cleveland Clinic sits on the same FDA panel that provides "oversight" to medical devices, including Essure. You are member of the Conceptus advisory board. Interesting, very interesting. There is more to why I'm calling out Dr. Bradly. She was one of the doctors who participated in the clinic trials. She was PAID by Conceptus to perform the trials, and these patients were implanted at Cleveland Clinic's hospital, which means the hospital got paid also. Did I mention I smell a rat? We have a young lady in our Facebook group who was a study patient. She was implanted by Dr. Bradley herself and she started having issues during the study. Instead of being helped, she was dismissed from the study. Dr. Bradley will not communicate at any level with her formal patient. She won't return phone calls, emails and is even making it difficult to get medical records.
Now, let’s talk about dear Dr. Mark Levie, who is also a Director at Conceptus and a member of their advisory board. He is a practicing physician in New York City who continues to implant patients with the device. Upon being appointed as Director, he was compensated with the equivalent of $300,000.00 in Conceptus stock. The total numbers of shares is determined by the fair market value at the time of his appointment. After 6 months of service, he received an additional $112,000.00 in stock. Following each annual shareholders meeting, he receives an additional $28,000.00 in stock. There are additional payouts awarded for serving as chair to audit committees or compensation oversight committees. These payouts are $17,500 and $10,500 respectively and all paid in stock. These compensation guidelines apply to any person who is named as an independent director as of January, 2008.
Being paid in stock gives those in this position personal motivation to ensure the stock performs well so they will make more money when they sell. In January, 2008, the stock was selling for approx. $15.00 per share. For a $300,000 award, the person received approximately 20,000 shares. The final price of the stock when Bayer bought Conceptus was $31.02 - the value had doubled. That $300,000.00 award is now worth of $600,000. And you think I'm still going to believe the doctors are neutral or independent? ABSOLUTELY NOT... They are motivated by dollar signs, and in the case of Dr. Mark Levie, we've caught you red handed and I hope to be a fly on the wall when you are thrown under the bus. Forget that, I want to drive the bus, and my e-sisters will be my passengers.
Now, let’s talk studies - there have been seven formal studies on Essure, only 7. Each and every one has been paid for by Conceptus and oversight is provided by a medical board member. There has never been a study which is independent. The numbers from these studies are what the FDA continues to site when responding to us about the safety of the device. These numbers are ALWAYS going to say the device its safe. The doctors have a vested financial interest in making the device look safe. They dismissed one person from a study, and it you've done it once, you've done it before and you'll do it again.
Did I mention I smell a rat?
In another one of my naive moments about the 'system', I thought those who approved the devices were independent of the manufacturer, and those who oversaw the studies were independent, and those who had oversight at the FDA were also independent. On paper, it seems like it would work, except is doesn't exist on paper. It doesn't exist at all. I was completely wrong and so are countless others.
I've spent several months in my battle against Essure, and the FDA. During this time, I've looked at countless documents, many of them found by Krystal Donahue, who is one of the administrators of the Essure Problems Facebook Group. We've seen the names of so many doctors, hospitals, clinics - they are starting to look the same and for a while, I began to think I was reading the same documents. Then the light clicked - it’s not the same documents, it’s the same people or different people from the same hospital over and over. What I thought was independent isn't even close.
Let's start with the members of the FDA's OB/GYN Devices Panel. These are the current members:
Chair
Dr. Thommaso Falcone
Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
Dr. Ann J. Davis
Professor
Dartmouth Medical School
Hanover, NH
Dr. Frank W. Ling
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Obstetrician
Women’s Health Specialists, PLLC
Germantown, TN
Dr. Paula J. Hillard
Professor and Chief Gynecologic Specialties
Stanford Univ. School of Medicine
Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Stanford, CA
Lisa M. Maldonado, MPH
Expertise: Reproductive Health Care
Executive Director
Reproductive Health Access Project
New York, NY
Dr. Lisa E. Moore
Associate Professor
University of New Mexico
Dept of OB/GYN; Div. of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Albuquerque, NM
Conceptus has its own Advisory Board. Members of the Conceptus advisory committee are paid consulting fees for their services and those with the title of Director, are REALLY paid. The list of these physicians is below:
Dr. Linda Bradley
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
Andrew Brill MD
Conceptus Director
Sutter Health / Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation
San Francisco, CA
Mark Levie MD
Conceptus Director
Montefiore Centennial Wmns Ctr
New York, NY
Viviane Connor MD
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Weston and West Palm Beach, Florida
Malcolm Munro
Director of Gynecologic Services,
Served at Study Chair for Stop - precursor to Essure
Los Angeles Medical Center at Kaiser Permanente,
Los Angeles, CA
Robert Zurawin
Baylor College of Medicine
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Houston, Texas
I hope you noticed what jumps out at me - Cleveland Clinic. It’s really interesting that doctors from Cleveland Clinic sit on the OB/GYN Advisory Board of the FDA and are also members of the Conceptus advisory panel. I smell a RAT. In my FOIA request to the FDA, I've asked for all emails between Conceptus, their advisory board, and members of the FDA advisory board. My FOIA was submitted in March of 2013, and I'm still waiting...Wonder why?
Dear Dr. Linda Bradley, your boss at Cleveland Clinic sits on the same FDA panel that provides "oversight" to medical devices, including Essure. You are member of the Conceptus advisory board. Interesting, very interesting. There is more to why I'm calling out Dr. Bradly. She was one of the doctors who participated in the clinic trials. She was PAID by Conceptus to perform the trials, and these patients were implanted at Cleveland Clinic's hospital, which means the hospital got paid also. Did I mention I smell a rat? We have a young lady in our Facebook group who was a study patient. She was implanted by Dr. Bradley herself and she started having issues during the study. Instead of being helped, she was dismissed from the study. Dr. Bradley will not communicate at any level with her formal patient. She won't return phone calls, emails and is even making it difficult to get medical records.
Now, let’s talk about dear Dr. Mark Levie, who is also a Director at Conceptus and a member of their advisory board. He is a practicing physician in New York City who continues to implant patients with the device. Upon being appointed as Director, he was compensated with the equivalent of $300,000.00 in Conceptus stock. The total numbers of shares is determined by the fair market value at the time of his appointment. After 6 months of service, he received an additional $112,000.00 in stock. Following each annual shareholders meeting, he receives an additional $28,000.00 in stock. There are additional payouts awarded for serving as chair to audit committees or compensation oversight committees. These payouts are $17,500 and $10,500 respectively and all paid in stock. These compensation guidelines apply to any person who is named as an independent director as of January, 2008.
Being paid in stock gives those in this position personal motivation to ensure the stock performs well so they will make more money when they sell. In January, 2008, the stock was selling for approx. $15.00 per share. For a $300,000 award, the person received approximately 20,000 shares. The final price of the stock when Bayer bought Conceptus was $31.02 - the value had doubled. That $300,000.00 award is now worth of $600,000. And you think I'm still going to believe the doctors are neutral or independent? ABSOLUTELY NOT... They are motivated by dollar signs, and in the case of Dr. Mark Levie, we've caught you red handed and I hope to be a fly on the wall when you are thrown under the bus. Forget that, I want to drive the bus, and my e-sisters will be my passengers.
Now, let’s talk studies - there have been seven formal studies on Essure, only 7. Each and every one has been paid for by Conceptus and oversight is provided by a medical board member. There has never been a study which is independent. The numbers from these studies are what the FDA continues to site when responding to us about the safety of the device. These numbers are ALWAYS going to say the device its safe. The doctors have a vested financial interest in making the device look safe. They dismissed one person from a study, and it you've done it once, you've done it before and you'll do it again.
Did I mention I smell a rat?
Friday, September 20, 2013
Julius Alexander Montgomery - May You Rest in Peace
God of power and might,
You proved powerless to save Baby Julius. You created him in his mother's womb, formed in the image and likeness of You. Indeed, Baby Julius is Your beloved child, with whom You are well pleased, too beloved; it seems to leave here with us.
Please guard him and comfort those who mourn his loss, that they may feel Your loving embrace in their sorrow, now and always. God of hope, let the light of Your love shine in this place as Julius joins You, now and forever. Amen.
In the early morning hours of September 18th, my e-sister Latisha was woken up from a deep slumber to find her water had broken and she was in pre-mature later. She was expecting a baby boy, a miracle baby, who wasn't supposed to be here, yet, he was growing inside her. Essure failed and a baby was conceived. Shock turned to joy as the baby grew inside of her. It was to be the first child of her husband.
Sadly, that little life is now gone. Julius took his first breath, his only breath and passed away. The premature labor was the result of an Essure coil perforating the amniotic sac causing her water to break. Essure has claimed his first victim. He was born, he was alive, and now, he's a memory and an inspiration. His mom, Latisha, the courage of bravery despite feeling pain that words can't describe. His Dad, Tino, lost his first child. His sister, Lashonda, will never get to be the big sister to her baby brother.
Just a few weeks ago, she posted about an ER visit where the technician commented about the metal coils inside of her. She said 'that’s my birth control' which left the technician with a look of shock on his face. Kind words of support and encouragement were sent to so many by Latisha. She now needs words of support like those she offered to so many.
That moment when Latisha saw her baby boy drift off to permanent slumber was one of those 'Life Altering' moments. She has joined the ranks of John and Reve Walsh, Nancy G. Brinker, Beckie Brown and Claudine and Don Ryce. In an act that can only be described as profoundly brave, Latisha and her husband announced they are starting a foundation, The Julius Montgomery Foundation.
A mother and a father are turning their pain into a promise of hope, hope for others suffering with Essure and hope that no one endures the pain from the loss of a child that they now know.
Condolences for the loss of Baby Julius can be sent to the address below:
Tino and Latisha S. Montgomery
12548 South Lowe
Chicago, IL 60628
Donations for the Newly Formed Foundation can be sent to the following (checks or money order):
The Julius Montgomery Foundation
c/o Latisha S. Montgomery
12548 South Lowe
Chicago, IL 60628
Donations to the Julius Montgomery Foundation will be tax deductible (application for 501(c)(3) status is submitted.
You proved powerless to save Baby Julius. You created him in his mother's womb, formed in the image and likeness of You. Indeed, Baby Julius is Your beloved child, with whom You are well pleased, too beloved; it seems to leave here with us.
Please guard him and comfort those who mourn his loss, that they may feel Your loving embrace in their sorrow, now and always. God of hope, let the light of Your love shine in this place as Julius joins You, now and forever. Amen.
In the early morning hours of September 18th, my e-sister Latisha was woken up from a deep slumber to find her water had broken and she was in pre-mature later. She was expecting a baby boy, a miracle baby, who wasn't supposed to be here, yet, he was growing inside her. Essure failed and a baby was conceived. Shock turned to joy as the baby grew inside of her. It was to be the first child of her husband.
Sadly, that little life is now gone. Julius took his first breath, his only breath and passed away. The premature labor was the result of an Essure coil perforating the amniotic sac causing her water to break. Essure has claimed his first victim. He was born, he was alive, and now, he's a memory and an inspiration. His mom, Latisha, the courage of bravery despite feeling pain that words can't describe. His Dad, Tino, lost his first child. His sister, Lashonda, will never get to be the big sister to her baby brother.
Just a few weeks ago, she posted about an ER visit where the technician commented about the metal coils inside of her. She said 'that’s my birth control' which left the technician with a look of shock on his face. Kind words of support and encouragement were sent to so many by Latisha. She now needs words of support like those she offered to so many.
That moment when Latisha saw her baby boy drift off to permanent slumber was one of those 'Life Altering' moments. She has joined the ranks of John and Reve Walsh, Nancy G. Brinker, Beckie Brown and Claudine and Don Ryce. In an act that can only be described as profoundly brave, Latisha and her husband announced they are starting a foundation, The Julius Montgomery Foundation.
A mother and a father are turning their pain into a promise of hope, hope for others suffering with Essure and hope that no one endures the pain from the loss of a child that they now know.
Condolences for the loss of Baby Julius can be sent to the address below:
Tino and Latisha S. Montgomery
12548 South Lowe
Chicago, IL 60628
Donations for the Newly Formed Foundation can be sent to the following (checks or money order):
The Julius Montgomery Foundation
c/o Latisha S. Montgomery
12548 South Lowe
Chicago, IL 60628
Donations to the Julius Montgomery Foundation will be tax deductible (application for 501(c)(3) status is submitted.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Betrayed by the System
Hello,
As a child growing up, I was conditioned to trust in the 'system.' That system includes law enforcement, civil servants, health care professionals, religious leaders and our government. It’s just what you're supposed to do. Then, one day, you learn that not everyone in the system can be trusted and you feel an emotion that rattles you - betrayal.
So many of us have been let down in life by one event or another; it happens to all of us; but to be betrayed by those that we elevate on a pedestal? That brings out a completely new set of emotions that some of us have a hard time dealing with.
A few weeks ago, the realization hit me hard that my OB/GYN went into rock star mode for one reason and one alone, to SAVE his butt. I spent a few days in a complete funk. He wasn't treating me to help me; he was treating me to save himself because he should have never implanted me with Essure because of my known allergy and he did it again. He was and is directly responsible for my suffering.
I wish I was the only one in our Facebook group who had to deal with this emotion. Sadly, it’s very common. Women are suffering with real symptoms, experiencing real pain, and they are ignored or worse, they can't get help because so many medical professionals don't know what Essure is. This is very evident with our experiences in emergency rooms.
A woman is in real pain, and she goes to get help from her local emergency pain. She is met with blank stares when she says she has Essure. She gets a CT scan or an x-ray and the technician looks at her funny when she they see a foreign body in her lower abdomen. No one at the hospital is capable of reading the images to determining if the coils are in the proper place or if they are malformed. She's offered pain pills and sent back to her OB/GYN. At her OB/GYN, the treatment is not much better and these are from the physicians who are supposed to be the experts on the device.
How can a physician tell a woman she isn't feeling what she is really feeling?
Patient: I'm in pain
Doctor: No, you're not; it's in your head
Patient: I've been bleeding uncontrollably for months.
Doctor: That's normal. (ummmm - NO)
Patient: I wake up in the morning with a flat stomach. By the time I'm ready for bed, I look seven months pregnant
Doctor: You need to work on your diet (really)
Patient: I went to the ER and they took an x-ray because my pain. The coils don't look right; maybe they have moved
Doctor: No they haven't.
Patient: How do you know?
Doctor: Because I know they don't move. They just don't (Yes, they do)
Those are just a few of the real scenarios that women have faced with their doctors. All of these women had real symptoms of Essure ignored. To get help, we sadly have to suggest to them they don't even mention Essure. To say the word seems to be the kiss of death when it comes to being taken seriously.
When doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, they pledge to prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
My ire with the FDA continues to grow every day. Another day has passed, and it’s another day with no type of warning, no type of recall and no response to my FOIA. We've also learned how deceptive they are with their own budgeting and advisory committee meetings. This is the week I had planned to be in Washington DC prepping with the Center for American Justice for a meeting that was on the calendar with the FDA. It’s the advisory committee for OB/GYN devices. The meeting was calendared and the FDA was awarded budget for this. I learned from the FDA that even though it was budgeted and calendared, they don't confirm the meeting and the advisory committee hasn't met in years - and that's our tax dollars hard at work.
The system is a joke and it’s failed every single person impacted by Essure, everyone.
As a child growing up, I was conditioned to trust in the 'system.' That system includes law enforcement, civil servants, health care professionals, religious leaders and our government. It’s just what you're supposed to do. Then, one day, you learn that not everyone in the system can be trusted and you feel an emotion that rattles you - betrayal.
So many of us have been let down in life by one event or another; it happens to all of us; but to be betrayed by those that we elevate on a pedestal? That brings out a completely new set of emotions that some of us have a hard time dealing with.
A few weeks ago, the realization hit me hard that my OB/GYN went into rock star mode for one reason and one alone, to SAVE his butt. I spent a few days in a complete funk. He wasn't treating me to help me; he was treating me to save himself because he should have never implanted me with Essure because of my known allergy and he did it again. He was and is directly responsible for my suffering.
I wish I was the only one in our Facebook group who had to deal with this emotion. Sadly, it’s very common. Women are suffering with real symptoms, experiencing real pain, and they are ignored or worse, they can't get help because so many medical professionals don't know what Essure is. This is very evident with our experiences in emergency rooms.
A woman is in real pain, and she goes to get help from her local emergency pain. She is met with blank stares when she says she has Essure. She gets a CT scan or an x-ray and the technician looks at her funny when she they see a foreign body in her lower abdomen. No one at the hospital is capable of reading the images to determining if the coils are in the proper place or if they are malformed. She's offered pain pills and sent back to her OB/GYN. At her OB/GYN, the treatment is not much better and these are from the physicians who are supposed to be the experts on the device.
How can a physician tell a woman she isn't feeling what she is really feeling?
Patient: I'm in pain
Doctor: No, you're not; it's in your head
Patient: I've been bleeding uncontrollably for months.
Doctor: That's normal. (ummmm - NO)
Patient: I wake up in the morning with a flat stomach. By the time I'm ready for bed, I look seven months pregnant
Doctor: You need to work on your diet (really)
Patient: I went to the ER and they took an x-ray because my pain. The coils don't look right; maybe they have moved
Doctor: No they haven't.
Patient: How do you know?
Doctor: Because I know they don't move. They just don't (Yes, they do)
Those are just a few of the real scenarios that women have faced with their doctors. All of these women had real symptoms of Essure ignored. To get help, we sadly have to suggest to them they don't even mention Essure. To say the word seems to be the kiss of death when it comes to being taken seriously.
When doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, they pledge to prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
My ire with the FDA continues to grow every day. Another day has passed, and it’s another day with no type of warning, no type of recall and no response to my FOIA. We've also learned how deceptive they are with their own budgeting and advisory committee meetings. This is the week I had planned to be in Washington DC prepping with the Center for American Justice for a meeting that was on the calendar with the FDA. It’s the advisory committee for OB/GYN devices. The meeting was calendared and the FDA was awarded budget for this. I learned from the FDA that even though it was budgeted and calendared, they don't confirm the meeting and the advisory committee hasn't met in years - and that's our tax dollars hard at work.
The system is a joke and it’s failed every single person impacted by Essure, everyone.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The Birth of an Activist
Hello,
Someone asked me how I went from a Victim to Advocate and then Activist. If you look at organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or Mothers against Drunk Drivers, or the Jimmy Rice Foundation or National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; they all started with a moment in life that changed them forever. Sadly, they are a moment or moments which can only be described as 'Life Altering.'
As you know from previous entries, my Essure coils were surgically removed in October of 2012. I could have just left the Essure Problems Facebook group as I was one of the lucky ones to become e-free, however, that wasn't an option for me. I was already too emotionally invested in the cause and the metamorphosis to Activist had already begun. I had several of those moments caused by Essure which impacted me so deeply that I simply could NOT go away quietly knowing that others could experience what I did.
You see, Essure robbed me of so much. It almost made my child as orphan as I could have died when I started bleeding uncontrollably - I'm the only parent. I could have died on the operating table having the two surgical procedures required to repair the damage caused by Essure and to free me of these nightmarish things. The man I was crazy about walked away from me two days after my bleeding episode because "he didn't sign up for this." The backstage mom of a dancer was stuck in the audience because I was too sick to help my daughter with hair / makeup / costume changes. This doesn't even touch on the things I simply forgot because my short-term memory still isn't the same because of Essure. I lost all of this because of birth control, JUST birth control.
ANGER - it’s a very powerful emotion and when you channel anger, you can change the world. I won't go as far as say that I want to change the world, just a piece of it, the piece that has directly angered me - Essure and the FDA.
When it comes to the FDA, boy, I was sure naive. I foolishly thought they are watching out for me. That couldn't be further than the truth. The FDA approves medical devices, but for them to actually do something when injuries are caused by medical devices, that's almost laughable. They'll let the manufacturer explain "it" away and the complaint will be filed. It's probably filed in the same place as my FOIA request. Anyway, the FDA puts more value on studies paid for and performed by doctors employed by or affiliated with the device manufacturer than they do in the words of women who are injured. The FDA doesn't even do their own studies? The whole process is a JOKE... To date, there have been more women injured by Essure than the total number of women included in the clinical trials.
Essure is now owned by Bayer and they are on a mission to cover their tracks and protect their ass-ets. They know we can't sue them; they purposely sought out PMA to protect themselves from the liabilities they know they are causing. They also know that nickel is a problem. They can't deny this as seven studies have been performed and in each and every one, they purposely exclude women who have nickel allergy. Knowing this, they still sought and received approval to remove the nickel warning from the label. Yes, the FDA approved the label change.
The emotional attachment to so many of the victims of Essure feeds my anger. Anger bread from sadness is more powerful than anger itself. The stories of those who are injured keep me going on the days where I think I can't keep going.
Essure off the market, and then the FDA needs to duck... Can't take out one without the other and they are both in the red zone.
Someone asked me how I went from a Victim to Advocate and then Activist. If you look at organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or Mothers against Drunk Drivers, or the Jimmy Rice Foundation or National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; they all started with a moment in life that changed them forever. Sadly, they are a moment or moments which can only be described as 'Life Altering.'
As you know from previous entries, my Essure coils were surgically removed in October of 2012. I could have just left the Essure Problems Facebook group as I was one of the lucky ones to become e-free, however, that wasn't an option for me. I was already too emotionally invested in the cause and the metamorphosis to Activist had already begun. I had several of those moments caused by Essure which impacted me so deeply that I simply could NOT go away quietly knowing that others could experience what I did.
You see, Essure robbed me of so much. It almost made my child as orphan as I could have died when I started bleeding uncontrollably - I'm the only parent. I could have died on the operating table having the two surgical procedures required to repair the damage caused by Essure and to free me of these nightmarish things. The man I was crazy about walked away from me two days after my bleeding episode because "he didn't sign up for this." The backstage mom of a dancer was stuck in the audience because I was too sick to help my daughter with hair / makeup / costume changes. This doesn't even touch on the things I simply forgot because my short-term memory still isn't the same because of Essure. I lost all of this because of birth control, JUST birth control.
ANGER - it’s a very powerful emotion and when you channel anger, you can change the world. I won't go as far as say that I want to change the world, just a piece of it, the piece that has directly angered me - Essure and the FDA.
When it comes to the FDA, boy, I was sure naive. I foolishly thought they are watching out for me. That couldn't be further than the truth. The FDA approves medical devices, but for them to actually do something when injuries are caused by medical devices, that's almost laughable. They'll let the manufacturer explain "it" away and the complaint will be filed. It's probably filed in the same place as my FOIA request. Anyway, the FDA puts more value on studies paid for and performed by doctors employed by or affiliated with the device manufacturer than they do in the words of women who are injured. The FDA doesn't even do their own studies? The whole process is a JOKE... To date, there have been more women injured by Essure than the total number of women included in the clinical trials.
Essure is now owned by Bayer and they are on a mission to cover their tracks and protect their ass-ets. They know we can't sue them; they purposely sought out PMA to protect themselves from the liabilities they know they are causing. They also know that nickel is a problem. They can't deny this as seven studies have been performed and in each and every one, they purposely exclude women who have nickel allergy. Knowing this, they still sought and received approval to remove the nickel warning from the label. Yes, the FDA approved the label change.
The emotional attachment to so many of the victims of Essure feeds my anger. Anger bread from sadness is more powerful than anger itself. The stories of those who are injured keep me going on the days where I think I can't keep going.
Essure off the market, and then the FDA needs to duck... Can't take out one without the other and they are both in the red zone.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
The Gates Foundation Includes Essure in its 2011 Contraceptive Initiative
Hello,
Below is correspondence I sent electronically to many within the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The email was sent after Angela Lynch, one of the administrators of the Essure Problems Facebook group, learned that Essure was included in the Gates Foundation 2011 Contraceptive Initiative. The document is in the link below, and its one simple word, which you can find on page 9.
http://depts.washington.edu/uwconf/foci/files/Randazzo.pdf
Here I am, a mom injured by this device, with firsthand knowledge of how crippling the side effects of this device can be if they happen, and one of the most respected women in America, who has the ability to affect change with one word, is dispensing Essure. No, no, no, no, no!!! Can you tell this bothered me? Well, it bothered many of us in the group.
Admittedly, many of us, including me, went off on a tangent that wasn't positive. As I was writing the first draft of the letter, I took a moment to really think about how to approach the Gates Foundation. As large as the Gates Foundation is, there is no way Bill and/or Melinda Gates are involved in every decision made. I have no way of knowing what they actually 'touch' or what is handled on their behalf. Maybe they don't know Essure is included, and more importantly, maybe they don't know about the countless women who have been injured by the device. The letter morphed into knowledge sharing with the hope of establishing a dialogue with someone at the Gates Foundation. I even included my phone number in the email. The email was received by many at the Foundation as only 3 of the 19 email addresses used were not valid. As of the writing of this blog, I've not received a response in any kind from anyone.
Women in the United States struggle with getting relief; who is going to help the women living in a remote village? In a third world country? Living in the mountains? The side effects aren't always gynecological in nature and these women may not know what is making them sick if they become sick. It was the lack of response that inspired the name of the blog. It’s not that I'm against Melinda Gates; she has the ability to do so much good, and she does do a lot of good. There are many working for them and I'm sure each device wasn't fully vetted. Essure is FDA approved, so "it’s got to be safe." If it wasn't safe, the FDA would issue a warning or something. These are reasonable assumptions, until you meet someone like me, who believed the same thing and suffered at levels very few can imagine, appreciate or even understand.
The battle against Essure continues and maybe someday, I'll be able to say that I influenced Melinda Gates to remove the device from those used by the Gates Foundation.
LETTER TO THE GATES FOUNDATION
Dear Sir and Madam;
I recently learned that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the use of Essure as part of your 2011 Contraception Initiative. My first thought was How Could You! My next thought was maybe you don’t know what Essure really does. It’s the latter of the two instincts which prompted this letter.
It is my sincere hope that this letter will prompt a dialogue so I can share with you the knowledge I have about the dangers of Essure with the hope that your organization will immediately withdraw your support of this device. Essure is a form of birth control in which two coils, made of nickel titanium alloy and PET fibers are implanted in the fallopian tubes of fertile women. It’s touted to be the non-surgical alternative to a tubal ligation. This device, by design, causes an auto-immune response which triggers the growth of scar tissue which blocks the tube and inhibits pregnancy. The Essure sales pitch, which was probably delivered to someone in your foundation who is a professional sales person or lobbyist, is sugar coated and it not true to reality. I can say this as I got the same sales pitch from my doctor. Essure is a classic example of “if it sounds too good to be true…..”
I co-admin a Facebook group called Essure Problems. We are over 2000 women strong and growing, and sadly, joined together because we have been severely and significantly damaged by Essure. When I joined the group in May of last year, there were only 30 members, and we are growing exponentially. Women are suffering with a myriad of symptoms, some of which mirror the effects of heavy metal poisoning or a severe reaction to the metals in the device. These symptoms include, but not limited to, severe and debilitating abdominal pain, irregular bleeding, dizziness, numbness, memory loss and tingling in their extremities and many other symptoms. The women in our group have been diagnosed with a multitude of illnesses including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis and even multiple sclerosis. All of these women, including me, were healthy and presented none of these symptoms before they were implanted with Essure. Coils are also perforating the fallopian tubes, migrating within the body, being expelled into the uterus and breaking inside the body.
Sadly, many women within the United States are not able to get help from their physicians when they do have complications. They are ignored, told it’s in their head, misdiagnosed, and left to suffer with nightmarish side effects that destroy their quality of life. If women in the United States can’t get help, who is going to help the women in a third world country when/if she begins to suffer side effects?
For those who are fortunate to have the coils removed, the majority of the symptoms dissipate, however, no one is ever the person they were before Essure. The only way to remove the coils is with major surgery, a hysterectomy or salpingectomy. Women as young as 24 have had to have a hysterectomy to remove the devices. The removal protocol available in 2012 states only a salpingectomy is necessary, however, when doctors are performing surgery, the amount of damage caused by the devices requires more tissue to be removed. This protocol also only works if the devices haven’t migrated. There is no removal protocol documented for cases where the coils are no longer in the fallopian tubes.
It is NOT stated on any of the documentation from Bayer / Conceptus, specifically the patient information book, package insert or instructions for use, that a hysterectomy is a possible side effect. This seems to have been a conscious decision as the manufacturer knew no one would chose this product if they knew it could lead to a hysterectomy.
Sadly, some women are unable to get relief because they lack health insurance or the financial means to pay for removal. How are women in India, China, or some African nation supposed to get treated? Did your funding plan for that or are you going to leave them alone to suffer?
As you may have noted from my letter, this cause is very personal to me. I chose to have Essure because it was non-surgical. I ended up having multiple medical procedures to repair the damage caused to me by this device. I am very lucky to be here today writing this letter as my complications were so severe that I hemorrhaged and could have bled to death. I suffered for two years and this impacted my daughter as there were times when I was too sick to be a mom. Children have less of a mom, and husbands have less of a wife, and it’s all because of Essure. No one should have to endure this. Its madness and it needs to stop. Its only a matter of time before someone is not able to survive the complications.
I have a myriad of documents which substantiate that Essure is a form of birth control that simply should not be on the market, including the documents from the clinical trials. Don’t be guided by my story alone. Many women have posted their Essure nightmares at www.essureprocedure.net, a website started for us by Erin Brockovich who is also supporting the fight against this device.
I welcome the opportunity to speak with any and all of you, and whomever else within your organization about Essure. I truly believe you didn’t know what was sold to you and this is your opportunity to send a loud and clear message about the dangers of Essure. What has happened to the ladies in my group continues to happen and no one deserves to suffer like this. You have the power to send a loud and clear message about the questionable safety of this device by removing its use from any and all programs supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Regards
Michelle Garcia
Below is correspondence I sent electronically to many within the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The email was sent after Angela Lynch, one of the administrators of the Essure Problems Facebook group, learned that Essure was included in the Gates Foundation 2011 Contraceptive Initiative. The document is in the link below, and its one simple word, which you can find on page 9.
http://depts.washington.edu/uwconf/foci/files/Randazzo.pdf
Here I am, a mom injured by this device, with firsthand knowledge of how crippling the side effects of this device can be if they happen, and one of the most respected women in America, who has the ability to affect change with one word, is dispensing Essure. No, no, no, no, no!!! Can you tell this bothered me? Well, it bothered many of us in the group.
Admittedly, many of us, including me, went off on a tangent that wasn't positive. As I was writing the first draft of the letter, I took a moment to really think about how to approach the Gates Foundation. As large as the Gates Foundation is, there is no way Bill and/or Melinda Gates are involved in every decision made. I have no way of knowing what they actually 'touch' or what is handled on their behalf. Maybe they don't know Essure is included, and more importantly, maybe they don't know about the countless women who have been injured by the device. The letter morphed into knowledge sharing with the hope of establishing a dialogue with someone at the Gates Foundation. I even included my phone number in the email. The email was received by many at the Foundation as only 3 of the 19 email addresses used were not valid. As of the writing of this blog, I've not received a response in any kind from anyone.
Women in the United States struggle with getting relief; who is going to help the women living in a remote village? In a third world country? Living in the mountains? The side effects aren't always gynecological in nature and these women may not know what is making them sick if they become sick. It was the lack of response that inspired the name of the blog. It’s not that I'm against Melinda Gates; she has the ability to do so much good, and she does do a lot of good. There are many working for them and I'm sure each device wasn't fully vetted. Essure is FDA approved, so "it’s got to be safe." If it wasn't safe, the FDA would issue a warning or something. These are reasonable assumptions, until you meet someone like me, who believed the same thing and suffered at levels very few can imagine, appreciate or even understand.
The battle against Essure continues and maybe someday, I'll be able to say that I influenced Melinda Gates to remove the device from those used by the Gates Foundation.
LETTER TO THE GATES FOUNDATION
Dear Sir and Madam;
I recently learned that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the use of Essure as part of your 2011 Contraception Initiative. My first thought was How Could You! My next thought was maybe you don’t know what Essure really does. It’s the latter of the two instincts which prompted this letter.
It is my sincere hope that this letter will prompt a dialogue so I can share with you the knowledge I have about the dangers of Essure with the hope that your organization will immediately withdraw your support of this device. Essure is a form of birth control in which two coils, made of nickel titanium alloy and PET fibers are implanted in the fallopian tubes of fertile women. It’s touted to be the non-surgical alternative to a tubal ligation. This device, by design, causes an auto-immune response which triggers the growth of scar tissue which blocks the tube and inhibits pregnancy. The Essure sales pitch, which was probably delivered to someone in your foundation who is a professional sales person or lobbyist, is sugar coated and it not true to reality. I can say this as I got the same sales pitch from my doctor. Essure is a classic example of “if it sounds too good to be true…..”
I co-admin a Facebook group called Essure Problems. We are over 2000 women strong and growing, and sadly, joined together because we have been severely and significantly damaged by Essure. When I joined the group in May of last year, there were only 30 members, and we are growing exponentially. Women are suffering with a myriad of symptoms, some of which mirror the effects of heavy metal poisoning or a severe reaction to the metals in the device. These symptoms include, but not limited to, severe and debilitating abdominal pain, irregular bleeding, dizziness, numbness, memory loss and tingling in their extremities and many other symptoms. The women in our group have been diagnosed with a multitude of illnesses including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis and even multiple sclerosis. All of these women, including me, were healthy and presented none of these symptoms before they were implanted with Essure. Coils are also perforating the fallopian tubes, migrating within the body, being expelled into the uterus and breaking inside the body.
Sadly, many women within the United States are not able to get help from their physicians when they do have complications. They are ignored, told it’s in their head, misdiagnosed, and left to suffer with nightmarish side effects that destroy their quality of life. If women in the United States can’t get help, who is going to help the women in a third world country when/if she begins to suffer side effects?
For those who are fortunate to have the coils removed, the majority of the symptoms dissipate, however, no one is ever the person they were before Essure. The only way to remove the coils is with major surgery, a hysterectomy or salpingectomy. Women as young as 24 have had to have a hysterectomy to remove the devices. The removal protocol available in 2012 states only a salpingectomy is necessary, however, when doctors are performing surgery, the amount of damage caused by the devices requires more tissue to be removed. This protocol also only works if the devices haven’t migrated. There is no removal protocol documented for cases where the coils are no longer in the fallopian tubes.
It is NOT stated on any of the documentation from Bayer / Conceptus, specifically the patient information book, package insert or instructions for use, that a hysterectomy is a possible side effect. This seems to have been a conscious decision as the manufacturer knew no one would chose this product if they knew it could lead to a hysterectomy.
Sadly, some women are unable to get relief because they lack health insurance or the financial means to pay for removal. How are women in India, China, or some African nation supposed to get treated? Did your funding plan for that or are you going to leave them alone to suffer?
As you may have noted from my letter, this cause is very personal to me. I chose to have Essure because it was non-surgical. I ended up having multiple medical procedures to repair the damage caused to me by this device. I am very lucky to be here today writing this letter as my complications were so severe that I hemorrhaged and could have bled to death. I suffered for two years and this impacted my daughter as there were times when I was too sick to be a mom. Children have less of a mom, and husbands have less of a wife, and it’s all because of Essure. No one should have to endure this. Its madness and it needs to stop. Its only a matter of time before someone is not able to survive the complications.
I have a myriad of documents which substantiate that Essure is a form of birth control that simply should not be on the market, including the documents from the clinical trials. Don’t be guided by my story alone. Many women have posted their Essure nightmares at www.essureprocedure.net, a website started for us by Erin Brockovich who is also supporting the fight against this device.
I welcome the opportunity to speak with any and all of you, and whomever else within your organization about Essure. I truly believe you didn’t know what was sold to you and this is your opportunity to send a loud and clear message about the dangers of Essure. What has happened to the ladies in my group continues to happen and no one deserves to suffer like this. You have the power to send a loud and clear message about the questionable safety of this device by removing its use from any and all programs supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Regards
Michelle Garcia
Monday, September 16, 2013
e-hell - What Essure did to me and my family
Hello,
I start this entry with a heavy heart as there are 15 women from the Essure Problems Facebook group scheduled for major surgery this week. The specific surgery is a hysterectomy, which is necessary to remove Essure for women who are suffering for severe side effects called by Essure. You may recall that in my first blog, I shared some of the side effects; that is just some of the effects. I'll expand on this after I share with you my personal story of e-hell.
The start of my e-hell began with my never having a normal cycle again. I had a period in June, but it lasted only two or three days. Then nothing for months; no July, August or September. I thought that was weird, but when I asked, the dr. said it was normal. This is the irregular bleeding they spoke about. Then in October, I got two periods in the same month. That has never happened to me before.
In early December, I started bleeding, and I didn't stop for months. I had to wear a pad everyday because something was always coming out of me. I gave up on wearing white and forget about a bathing suit. December was also a sad month for a few other reasons. My daughter was performing at a dance convention in Orlando. I always did her hair and makeup. Sadly, that didn't happen for this event as I was in our hotel room with a migraine from hell and not only did I not do her hair or makeup, I also didn't see her dance. I was the mom who was always there for everything for my child. Essure stole that when it robbed me of my health.
In February or March of 2012, my GYN performed a biopsy to determine why I was constantly bleeding. Those tests came back as negative for anything wrong and negative for a reason why I just kept bleeding. It was about the same time, I noted the sharp, stabbing abdominal pains. The stabs felt like someone had a knife and they were stabbing me from the inside. When they got my attention, the pains would last seconds, with a scale or 5 or 6. I was having two or three episodes a day. Over time, the frequency and severity increased. At its peak, I was having 8 or 9 episodes a day at a pain scale of 9 or 10. Yes, 10.
Finally in April, I suddenly stopped bleeding. It was a relief and my thoughts are maybe I'm finally back to normal. That couldn't be further from the truth. I'll never forget May 18, 2012. The day before, I spotted a bit and wore a pad to work that day. I was sitting in a mid-morning meeting, and I started bleeding a lot. Within seconds, the pad I was wearing was soaked through and I could feel the cushion of the chair I was sitting absorbing the blood also. Somehow, I managed to leave the room without losing my composure, and got to my desk. By this time, I have blood dripping down my leg, I'm very shaky, pale, and my composure is gone. One of my co-workers got me to the hospital. This is what I learned how little hospitals know about Essure or even how to manage patients have a gynecological crisis. I bled for about 2 hours straight, and it stopped on its own after two hours. The hospital performed no diagnostic tests, no CT scan, no ultra-sound, no nothing. They basically said you're not bleeding anymore and sent me on my way. They gave to me a verbal diagnosis, I hemorrhaged, and a diagnosis on paper, heavy periods. I spent the next few days at home laying on the couch with no energy. My mom said something which triggered me to start looking. She said 'maybe the Essure thing is the problem.' It was that day that I found and joined Essure Problems on Facebook, which had maybe 30 members. I was amazed at how much I had in common with these women. We had some very similar issues and we were all convinced it was Essure. I also found a few other pages on other websites which talked about Essure causing problems. These were pages I had never seen before.
I saw my GYN on Monday, showed him what I found, and he said it may be Essure, it may not be and I had tons of tests performed on me that day and for the next few days. My GYN also spoke to my primary physician and it seemed that my primary was going to be engaged with figuring out what was wrong with me. I had been complaining about other symptoms to my primary for months, and he couldn't find anything wrong. Some of the other symptoms included dizzy spells, numbness / tingling in my extremities, my memory wasn't the same, my energy level was gone, and I just generally felt like crap all the time. All the while, I still had that sharp stabbing pain. My migraines also got worse; the increased in frequency and intensity. After getting a battery of tests, I saw my primary and his response to me was lose weight. I know that carrying extra pounds can lead to a few other health conditions, but there is NO WAY that would cause me to lose copious amounts of blood. I left his office and never went back.
My GYN then started ordering tests that would normally be done by the PCP. One of the tests was an abdominal CT scan. My GYN said this test showed I had developed a seroma in my abdomen and this was probably the source of the pain. This test also showed a coil fragment in my abdomen, but he neglected to tell me this. I found out about the coil fragment later. On June 20th, I had an outpatient surgical procedure, which drained the seroma. For a few days, even the sharp stabbing pain went away. That was short lived.
By early July, the stabbing was back. It started slowly, once or twice a day and got progressively worse. Anyone who sat around me at work knew when I was getting stabbed; it showed in my face and they would also see me doubled over grabbing my side. They knew they started again when the same doubling over started again. My GYN referred me to a gynecological surgeon as he agreed to finally take them out. On my first appointment with Dr. Jacob Tangier, I was sitting in the waiting room and there was a woman next to me who was clearly suffering with some form of cancer. I remember telling Dr. Tangier that I could wait if she needed to be seen first. He said that you wouldn't be here if you didn't need to me and I KNEW I had found the doctor who would free me of these coils. He already had a copy of my records and asked that I get a copy of the CT scan I had in June which showed the seroma. The next appointment with him he said before surgery he wants another CT scan to make sure the coil hadn't moved. I said what coil? It was that day I learned that the Essure coil had broke in my body, and the fragment perforated my fallopian tube and it had migrated to my abdomen. My GYN didn't tell me this. Mistake #2.
I used to say that my GYN went into rock star mode. Sadly, I've come to realize that he only went above and beyond to cover his mistakes. I have a known allergy to IV Iodine which was discovered when I was in my early twenties when I went into anaphylaxis during a diagnostic procedure. Because of this known allergy, which is in my chart in his office, I should have never been implanted as the Essure documentation states that anyone with a known allergy should not have the procedure. This is NOT listed on any patient material, but it is on the material for the physicians who perform the procedure. He messed up, got paid and I suffered.
I was scheduled for Essure removal via bi-lateral salpingectomy and removal of the coil fragment in my abdomen. Finally, I would be getting these nightmarish devices of out me. I was about to have major surgery and I was excited. Yes, excited. Something is seriously wrong when major surgery becomes a happy moment. Essure robs you of your quality of life and makes the whole family suffer because Mom is too sick to me a mom. Because of Essure, I suffered physically, emotionally and psychologically. All I did was sign up for birth control, just birth control. To avoid one surgery, I ended up having two. Essure destroyed my insides.
Slowly over time, I'm getting my life back, but my Essure story is far from over.
I start this entry with a heavy heart as there are 15 women from the Essure Problems Facebook group scheduled for major surgery this week. The specific surgery is a hysterectomy, which is necessary to remove Essure for women who are suffering for severe side effects called by Essure. You may recall that in my first blog, I shared some of the side effects; that is just some of the effects. I'll expand on this after I share with you my personal story of e-hell.
The start of my e-hell began with my never having a normal cycle again. I had a period in June, but it lasted only two or three days. Then nothing for months; no July, August or September. I thought that was weird, but when I asked, the dr. said it was normal. This is the irregular bleeding they spoke about. Then in October, I got two periods in the same month. That has never happened to me before.
In early December, I started bleeding, and I didn't stop for months. I had to wear a pad everyday because something was always coming out of me. I gave up on wearing white and forget about a bathing suit. December was also a sad month for a few other reasons. My daughter was performing at a dance convention in Orlando. I always did her hair and makeup. Sadly, that didn't happen for this event as I was in our hotel room with a migraine from hell and not only did I not do her hair or makeup, I also didn't see her dance. I was the mom who was always there for everything for my child. Essure stole that when it robbed me of my health.
In February or March of 2012, my GYN performed a biopsy to determine why I was constantly bleeding. Those tests came back as negative for anything wrong and negative for a reason why I just kept bleeding. It was about the same time, I noted the sharp, stabbing abdominal pains. The stabs felt like someone had a knife and they were stabbing me from the inside. When they got my attention, the pains would last seconds, with a scale or 5 or 6. I was having two or three episodes a day. Over time, the frequency and severity increased. At its peak, I was having 8 or 9 episodes a day at a pain scale of 9 or 10. Yes, 10.
Finally in April, I suddenly stopped bleeding. It was a relief and my thoughts are maybe I'm finally back to normal. That couldn't be further from the truth. I'll never forget May 18, 2012. The day before, I spotted a bit and wore a pad to work that day. I was sitting in a mid-morning meeting, and I started bleeding a lot. Within seconds, the pad I was wearing was soaked through and I could feel the cushion of the chair I was sitting absorbing the blood also. Somehow, I managed to leave the room without losing my composure, and got to my desk. By this time, I have blood dripping down my leg, I'm very shaky, pale, and my composure is gone. One of my co-workers got me to the hospital. This is what I learned how little hospitals know about Essure or even how to manage patients have a gynecological crisis. I bled for about 2 hours straight, and it stopped on its own after two hours. The hospital performed no diagnostic tests, no CT scan, no ultra-sound, no nothing. They basically said you're not bleeding anymore and sent me on my way. They gave to me a verbal diagnosis, I hemorrhaged, and a diagnosis on paper, heavy periods. I spent the next few days at home laying on the couch with no energy. My mom said something which triggered me to start looking. She said 'maybe the Essure thing is the problem.' It was that day that I found and joined Essure Problems on Facebook, which had maybe 30 members. I was amazed at how much I had in common with these women. We had some very similar issues and we were all convinced it was Essure. I also found a few other pages on other websites which talked about Essure causing problems. These were pages I had never seen before.
I saw my GYN on Monday, showed him what I found, and he said it may be Essure, it may not be and I had tons of tests performed on me that day and for the next few days. My GYN also spoke to my primary physician and it seemed that my primary was going to be engaged with figuring out what was wrong with me. I had been complaining about other symptoms to my primary for months, and he couldn't find anything wrong. Some of the other symptoms included dizzy spells, numbness / tingling in my extremities, my memory wasn't the same, my energy level was gone, and I just generally felt like crap all the time. All the while, I still had that sharp stabbing pain. My migraines also got worse; the increased in frequency and intensity. After getting a battery of tests, I saw my primary and his response to me was lose weight. I know that carrying extra pounds can lead to a few other health conditions, but there is NO WAY that would cause me to lose copious amounts of blood. I left his office and never went back.
My GYN then started ordering tests that would normally be done by the PCP. One of the tests was an abdominal CT scan. My GYN said this test showed I had developed a seroma in my abdomen and this was probably the source of the pain. This test also showed a coil fragment in my abdomen, but he neglected to tell me this. I found out about the coil fragment later. On June 20th, I had an outpatient surgical procedure, which drained the seroma. For a few days, even the sharp stabbing pain went away. That was short lived.
By early July, the stabbing was back. It started slowly, once or twice a day and got progressively worse. Anyone who sat around me at work knew when I was getting stabbed; it showed in my face and they would also see me doubled over grabbing my side. They knew they started again when the same doubling over started again. My GYN referred me to a gynecological surgeon as he agreed to finally take them out. On my first appointment with Dr. Jacob Tangier, I was sitting in the waiting room and there was a woman next to me who was clearly suffering with some form of cancer. I remember telling Dr. Tangier that I could wait if she needed to be seen first. He said that you wouldn't be here if you didn't need to me and I KNEW I had found the doctor who would free me of these coils. He already had a copy of my records and asked that I get a copy of the CT scan I had in June which showed the seroma. The next appointment with him he said before surgery he wants another CT scan to make sure the coil hadn't moved. I said what coil? It was that day I learned that the Essure coil had broke in my body, and the fragment perforated my fallopian tube and it had migrated to my abdomen. My GYN didn't tell me this. Mistake #2.
I used to say that my GYN went into rock star mode. Sadly, I've come to realize that he only went above and beyond to cover his mistakes. I have a known allergy to IV Iodine which was discovered when I was in my early twenties when I went into anaphylaxis during a diagnostic procedure. Because of this known allergy, which is in my chart in his office, I should have never been implanted as the Essure documentation states that anyone with a known allergy should not have the procedure. This is NOT listed on any patient material, but it is on the material for the physicians who perform the procedure. He messed up, got paid and I suffered.
I was scheduled for Essure removal via bi-lateral salpingectomy and removal of the coil fragment in my abdomen. Finally, I would be getting these nightmarish devices of out me. I was about to have major surgery and I was excited. Yes, excited. Something is seriously wrong when major surgery becomes a happy moment. Essure robs you of your quality of life and makes the whole family suffer because Mom is too sick to me a mom. Because of Essure, I suffered physically, emotionally and psychologically. All I did was sign up for birth control, just birth control. To avoid one surgery, I ended up having two. Essure destroyed my insides.
Slowly over time, I'm getting my life back, but my Essure story is far from over.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Introduction
Hello,
Thanks for reading the first of many entries in my blog. I'm sure many of you are wondering why I chose to name Melinda Gates in the title and why an ordinary person is choosing to call out someone extra-ordinary. Well, that's an easy one. I became extra-ordinary the day that a defective birth control device called Essure almost ended my life. How we got to Vs. Melinda Gates is a story two years in the making so let's go back two years and get you caught up.
In April of 2011, I became a patient of Essure. My doctor knew I didn't want any more children; I have one daughter, who is simply the most amazing child. I was 38 years old at the time at the time. Do that math, with child #2 we'd be going through puberty and menopause at the same time. That was as unappealing as the possibility of a high risk pregnancy. I have no regrets about my personal decision to have no more children. I do, however, regret the decision to get Essure every day. Just last week, I learned I should have never been a patient in the first place. We'll get to the later.
You're probably asking what is Essure? I'm happy to tell you. During the past two years, I've learned quite a bit about the device. You see, when you're in a battle against something, you better become an expert. You can't fight what you don't know and I know more about Essure than many doctors. Sad, but true. In fact, there are lots of women who have become experts on this device. One who knows more than me is Angie Firmalino, she's my e-sister and together with a few other amazing ladies, we co-admin a facebook group called Essure Problems. Essure Problems is a group of ladies whose lives have been irreversibly damaged by Essure. We also have a few spouses on the page who support their significant others.
Back to what Essure is - the device is two small coils which are made of a nickel-titanium alloy and PET fibers. When the Essure coils are inserted in the fallopian tubes, an inflammatory response is triggered which causes scar tissue to develop around the coil and this scar tissue is supposed to 'occlude' or block your fallopian tubes. In theory, it sounds great. Sadly, it's only a theory, because for me and the 2000+ women in our group, it's our worst nightmare. I wish I knew in 2011 what I know now. When I was implanted, there was very little about Essure on the web, and despite my research, I never found anything bad about it. It was described as the non-surgical alternative to a tubal ligation. That worked for me as I didn't want surgery. It was also described as virtually painless and easily performed in the doctor's office. I would be back to normal activities the next day. The side effects were described as cramping and irregular bleeding. It sounded like the optimal solution for me. Too bad that Essure is NOTHING like it was described.
Let's start with the day of insertion - they give you medication to take at home so you're comfortable. NO, they give you medication so you end up STONED. By the time of my procedure at 11am, I had already taken four Percocet. Again, this is what they prescribed. The quick and painless procedure was NOT quick and it was NOT painless. Only one coil was successfully implanted that day, and it took over 30 minutes. I remember severe pain that brought me to tears, and cramping that was extreme. If I wasn't so stoned, I probably would have screamed and jumped off the table. I was also given a shot and told to come back in a month to try to place the second coil. I wish I would have never gone back.
After the first coil was placed, I spotted for several days. I was told it was normal. About two weeks later, I got a period and it was nothing like my typical cycle. I was told that was because of the shot. Over time, I learned it may not have been the shot.
I went for the second coil in May and it was just like the first, painful!!! There was also a rep from Conceptus in the room observing. This also took more than 10 minutes. In the Essure documentation provided to physicians, the procedure should be aborted after 10 minutes. My doctor violated this protocol and this is NOT the 1st mistake he made when it came to my care.
Prior to becoming an Essure patient, I had periods that were very regular, and virtually painless. I was the one that everyone else hated because I had no symptoms to go along with a monthly cycle; no cramps, no bloating, no irritability, no nothing. The only way I knew it was that time of the month was the bleeding. My last regular period was in April of 2011, right before I was inserted with Essure.
This leads to the beginning of e-HELL which will be described in upcoming entries.
Thanks for reading the first of many entries in my blog. I'm sure many of you are wondering why I chose to name Melinda Gates in the title and why an ordinary person is choosing to call out someone extra-ordinary. Well, that's an easy one. I became extra-ordinary the day that a defective birth control device called Essure almost ended my life. How we got to Vs. Melinda Gates is a story two years in the making so let's go back two years and get you caught up.
In April of 2011, I became a patient of Essure. My doctor knew I didn't want any more children; I have one daughter, who is simply the most amazing child. I was 38 years old at the time at the time. Do that math, with child #2 we'd be going through puberty and menopause at the same time. That was as unappealing as the possibility of a high risk pregnancy. I have no regrets about my personal decision to have no more children. I do, however, regret the decision to get Essure every day. Just last week, I learned I should have never been a patient in the first place. We'll get to the later.
You're probably asking what is Essure? I'm happy to tell you. During the past two years, I've learned quite a bit about the device. You see, when you're in a battle against something, you better become an expert. You can't fight what you don't know and I know more about Essure than many doctors. Sad, but true. In fact, there are lots of women who have become experts on this device. One who knows more than me is Angie Firmalino, she's my e-sister and together with a few other amazing ladies, we co-admin a facebook group called Essure Problems. Essure Problems is a group of ladies whose lives have been irreversibly damaged by Essure. We also have a few spouses on the page who support their significant others.
Back to what Essure is - the device is two small coils which are made of a nickel-titanium alloy and PET fibers. When the Essure coils are inserted in the fallopian tubes, an inflammatory response is triggered which causes scar tissue to develop around the coil and this scar tissue is supposed to 'occlude' or block your fallopian tubes. In theory, it sounds great. Sadly, it's only a theory, because for me and the 2000+ women in our group, it's our worst nightmare. I wish I knew in 2011 what I know now. When I was implanted, there was very little about Essure on the web, and despite my research, I never found anything bad about it. It was described as the non-surgical alternative to a tubal ligation. That worked for me as I didn't want surgery. It was also described as virtually painless and easily performed in the doctor's office. I would be back to normal activities the next day. The side effects were described as cramping and irregular bleeding. It sounded like the optimal solution for me. Too bad that Essure is NOTHING like it was described.
Let's start with the day of insertion - they give you medication to take at home so you're comfortable. NO, they give you medication so you end up STONED. By the time of my procedure at 11am, I had already taken four Percocet. Again, this is what they prescribed. The quick and painless procedure was NOT quick and it was NOT painless. Only one coil was successfully implanted that day, and it took over 30 minutes. I remember severe pain that brought me to tears, and cramping that was extreme. If I wasn't so stoned, I probably would have screamed and jumped off the table. I was also given a shot and told to come back in a month to try to place the second coil. I wish I would have never gone back.
After the first coil was placed, I spotted for several days. I was told it was normal. About two weeks later, I got a period and it was nothing like my typical cycle. I was told that was because of the shot. Over time, I learned it may not have been the shot.
I went for the second coil in May and it was just like the first, painful!!! There was also a rep from Conceptus in the room observing. This also took more than 10 minutes. In the Essure documentation provided to physicians, the procedure should be aborted after 10 minutes. My doctor violated this protocol and this is NOT the 1st mistake he made when it came to my care.
Prior to becoming an Essure patient, I had periods that were very regular, and virtually painless. I was the one that everyone else hated because I had no symptoms to go along with a monthly cycle; no cramps, no bloating, no irritability, no nothing. The only way I knew it was that time of the month was the bleeding. My last regular period was in April of 2011, right before I was inserted with Essure.
This leads to the beginning of e-HELL which will be described in upcoming entries.
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