Sunday, October 17, 2010

This Dreaded Condition Known as Cervical Incompetence

I remember the first time I heard the term "Incompetent Cervix". My first thought was, "why would anyone call it stupid?" The poor person who came up with this term was probably so frustrated that they shouted "what an Incompetent Cervix!" and the name probably stuck - ha! At least thats my interpretation of it.

The day we were discharged after giving birth to Alyssa-Joy, I hit the Internet. For those of you who don't know me well, I love researching. If I were not a teacher, I would be a professional researcher. The Dr. who saw me and delivered the devastating news at the hospital never gave me any information, and when I spoke to my OB, I was so overcome with grief that I was unable to pay attention. The net became my friend. For hours, days, weeks, I researched this condition. I read medical journals, articles, web pages, blogs, archived messages in forums, everything I could get my hands on that would inform me about this condition. I think I have mentioned before that I now know everything that can go wrong in a pregnancy, what to look for, every medical term associated with pregnancies, every NICU term and possible conditions, I know statistics, rates of survival, success rates....... you name it, I know it.
I have always agreed with the popular saying that "Knowledge is power". Oh how I would love to be blissfully ignorant. Even though this knowledge arms me with what I need, it can be downright scary at times.

It was through this grief-induced research that I stumbled across some BLM blogs. I read these blogs and could relate, but the conditions that resulted in the losses of these women were unrelated to mine and I felt somewhat out of place. Slowly over time, I found IC blogs, and boy are there many. Below are some of the *few* that I have found so far and read frequently. I have compiled this list in hopes of helping others. If through a Goog.le search they stumble across my page, I want them to be able to find other IC blogs that they can relate to. I am not diminishing the importance of other BLM blogs, but I wanted to devote this post to he condition that I suffer from. Please note that I have not included those who have the TAC and suffer from IC. For a list of those, please see this post.


I am sure there are many more and I will be adding to this list when I find more (hopefully I can put it as a separate page or tab? - any suggestions?), these are just the ones I have found and currently read. I apologize if I inadvertently left anyone out.

Awaiting my expected end.

7 comments:

  1. Marie, you and I sound alot alike. After I lost the twins to IC, I wanted to know EVERYTHING. I know the terms for stuff before my OB or sonographer even explains it. Thank you for putting these resources together for IC ladies. A suggestion is that blogger has a widget to keep a rolling list of blogs that are listed on your sidebar and it sorts it by those that post most recently. Go to settings>design>page elements>add a gadget>blog list. HTH!!!

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  2. Marie,

    I always admire your mission to help others connect that suffer from IC. When you are hurting and desparate for answers you want to know that you are not alone...that someone else "knows" what you are going through. We trade stories and information and as you say, knowledge is power.

    If you can add a tab to your page that would be wonderful. It was through your blog that I was able to connect my precious friend Shan with others with IC, as I knew nothing about it and wanted for her to not feel isolated or alone with her condition.

    Kudos to you for all the wonderful work!

    You are doing "his" work on Earth honey...an Angel on Earth to others.

    xxx

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  3. Hey Marie ! Just want to stop by and thank you for all your help and info ;O) and the links to other blogs. I hope you are well ;O)

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  4. I hate that there are so many of us with a crappy cervix. Thank you for posting these links and this post. *hugs*

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  5. Hey Marie, I am in the research phase. I talked to Dr. Davis yesterday and I am going to talk to Dr. Haney on Monday. Do you have some research that you can share with me, please?

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  6. WOW! You have been a positive influence to me by reading your blog... I have cried because I have IC and my baby Edy died almost one year ago, she lived 19 days. I would love if you have a moment to read my blog (her story) www.carriesplethoraofrandomthoughts.blogspot.com if you can. I am trying to decide when to schedule the TAC, my MFM just agreed to do it! Thank you for sharing your story. carrie

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