Hello,
I have had my pouch for about 7 years...I am now 30 years old and am really getting to a place where my husband and I want to start trying to get pregnant. We have not REALLY been trying, but we have not been using birth control either....I guess my question is, with laproscopic jpouch surgery, what percentage of women have scarring in their fallopian tubes? That seems to be the primary reason for infertility...is the scarring that occurs dependent on the person? Those prone to scars, in relation to number and intensity of surgery/surgeries? Thanks
K

Hi Ksmarisa.
I had 2 children before I got UC so I never tried to fall pregnant with a pouch.
I have had my pouch for 12 years, and I was told a couple of years ago that I had blocked fallopian tubes.

I have chronic pelvic pain and I expect this is probably why, along with other adhesions.
My gynecologist tells me they are consantly infected and need to be removed, and my bowel surgeon tells me that they are not infected, it is just adhesions from bowel surgery and not to remove them.
SO, I am confused. I don't know who to believe or if I should remove them or not.
The trouble is, the gynecologist is scared to operate on me as I have had 9 previous open surgeries and there are a lot of scar tissues which potentially could cause surgical problems. I already lost my spleen and had my bowel perforated from surgeries gone wrong.
I do not want any more surgery, so I will probably ignore it, PLUS I do not want them to whip out my ovaries or uterus while they are in there. I want to keep all that stuff.

Everyone is different. I only had "one" surgery (it was a 2-stage, but they didn't open me up for the 2nd stage). I had an HSG done where they run dye through your tubes to see if they are blocked, and mine were perfectly clear. But bc of scar tissue, my ovaries were displaced - they weren't where they were supposed to be, right outside the tubes. Because of that, I couldn't get PG as the egg just never got into the tubes. I had to go through IVF to get pregnant (we were very lucky that it was successful). We wasted 2.5 years trying before going to fertility procedures; had we gone to a fertility specialist right away, we could have possibly saved $ to do IVF a 2nd time, but by the time we did it, I was 39, and now I'm 41 and we don't have the money to do it again, so we just consider ourselves lucky that we have our little boy. If you are trying and not seeing results after 5 months or so (charting and temping for best results), I would go to a fertility specialist.

i ma 35 and have never really thought about having children and now find that when i do my tubes are blocked. so it is worth finding out rather than wasteing lots of time thinking whether they might be!good luck

Is there a gyno in NYC that you would recommend familiar with gynecological issues post J-Pouch surgery?

I see Dr. Douglas Moss, an OB/GYN in NYC. I was referred to him by someone on this website. His name might come up in a search. He sees many patients with j-pouches. He is great. His number is 212-860-2600. The problem is that he only accepts Aetna insurance or private pay. I had my husband change our insurance plan to Aetna for this reason.

I had multiple surgeries pre-marriage...and many more post...found out my tubes were blocked at 20 with HSG and mourned for years (1981)because back then it was a fatality...no ivf specialist would touch me....then had repeated miscarriages...more surgeries and reblocked tubes and then another HSG and 3 or more miscarriages.
Aparently the HSG can on occasion unblock the tubes. It worked twice for me but my anatomy was so messed up that I couldn't carry to term.
There are fortunately a lot of new techniques out there since my time and many great success stories on this site...so please don't give up the good fight.
Sharon

I went to a fertility specialist after trying to conceive without success. I had a HSG done, and was told my tubes were blocked. She then suggested IVF. I underwent IVF and was successful on the first go round. When my OB/GYN delivered my daughter, he removed some scar tissue, but questioned why I had undergone IVF, as he saw no blockage in the tubes. I've since gotten pregnant naturally. I also heard that because an HSG is such a "highly stressful" test, results can be misinforming. I'm not a doctor. It's what I've been told. Hope this helps somewhat. Good luck to you.

My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for almost 2 years now. I am 3 years out from having my colectomy and 2 years out from my take-down. i have had 2 babies pre surgery and have done all the tests to determine if I have scarred tubes. My HSG test showed that I had blocked tubes but not 100%. When I went to see my fertility doctor, she proceeded to tell me that not only are my tubes blocked but my fallopian tubes are bent back around my uterus and my ovaries are touching and more than likely stuck together by adhesions. She told me I had so many adhesions and scar tissue that she would not recommend going in to remove it. We have continued trying to get pregnant naturally knowing that if I do conceive I have a high likelhood of having a tubal pregnancy. We are saving for IVF because our insurance doesn't cover any of the IVF. I think that scarring and adhesions are pretty common but it differs from woman to woman. I had so many infections and abscesses that I am sure that added to the problem.

This such a familiar story I had a HSG done and my tubes were completely blocked and i had been trying for 3 years on my own as I was told before surgery fertility would not b a problem (i wish surgeons would not tell women this) I did IVF 11 yrs ago, am a poucher of 17 yrs If you can afford it or have insurance just go see someone and have them look into it so you know what u r dealing with

If you search 'tubes' on this forum you will find loads of references to women with scarred, or damaged tubes. It is certainly the reason for my infertility. Apparently after abdominal surgery/s this is pretty common. Medical literature suggests that women with UC have increased infertility after surgery, compared with pre surgery.
I have had surgery to attempt to fix my tubes - that has not been successful either. If you have the chance to postpone surgery until yo uhave kids - I would recommend that choice.

Hi! I though i read somewhere 33% but i could be wrong. Seems like more. My doctor told me i had to have my tubes removed before IVF also cause they were blocked with hydrosalpinx (toxic fluid and scar tissue) dont know if that is your problem or not. They tried to get my tubes out laparoscopically cause they said the fluid is toxic to embryos and would not do the IVF without removing tubes first. They couldnt get to them through all the scar tissue, so i later went in for an "Essure" procedure where they went up through my uterus, and they put these little plugs in your tubes to block them instead. It takes 3 months to become effective and i start my Ivf process now the 3rd week of october. Good luck and maybe that will help you!