Re: non-DES t-shape ?'s - preg ment

[Guest guest]

Dear Em/,

I can truly relate to the frustration you feel after years of trying

to conceive. From the time we started ttc almost 3 years ago, we've

acquired 5 nieces and nephews. As much as we love them (and we do

adore them), we were reminded with each birth that we were still

without our own child to shower with love. There is a popular

saying/blessing in DH's culture that is basically, " I hope you have

a child next " . I got so tired of hearing that phrase that I

actually asked some people to stop saying that! Instead of a

blessing, it felt more like a pitiful reminder that we were still

childless. I must confess that it got to the point where I had a

difficult time even going to our church because of all the babies

being born (that is awful of me)!

Em, I have a t-shape due to DES, so I can't advise you on your 3rd

gen questions. I will tell you that I always had terrible cramps

and was given BCP for several years for supposed endo (before I knew

I was DES x-ed). I finally insisted on having a laparoscopy since

the pain wasn't relieved by BCP and found out that I had almost no

endo at all. After I had my hysteroscopy and my t-shape was

enlarged, the pain has been almost nothing compared to before

surgery. So, most likely the cramps were due to my MA, since they

couldn't be due to endo.

If you can convince your doctor to do a lap to diagnose the pain and

rule out endo as the source or treat it if it is there, I would

recommend it. Some people have had difficulty having this procedure

covered for infertility, but if it is for pain I would hope your

insurance would cover it as such.

I hope you are keeping up with the DES 3rd gen research.

Unfortunately, because you are in the minority you can't trust

doctor's to keep up with this. I am a DES daughter and just had an

appointment with a pediatrician for the daughter we are expecting.

My husband started asking her about DES and it's affect on our

daughter. The poor doctor I think was taken aback and said she

didn't think there was any effect on the 3rd generation. Well, you

probably know that studies are still ongoing and that there was a

European study that found an increased incident of hypospadias in

3rd gen males. She was not aware of this, but I wouldn't expect her

to be since she will probably never come across DES-related issues

in her practice because there is such a low incidence of those

possibly affected. So, I will definitely be keeping my own eyes and

ears open for any updated research on 3rd generation.

I hope that you find the answers to your questions and have a little

one in your arms soon! Try to keep your faith and don't give up!

Best wishes,

Mikell, 32

hypoplastic t-shape, remodeled 8/04

1 m/c 2/04

edd 01/19/05