Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Natalie

In my 2 week follow-up appointment after my D&C, the doctor informed me that

1. My chromosomal test came back inconclusive.

“Oh…well… that’s disappointing and unexpected.”

My nerves were activated leading up to this appointment. I was anxious to hear my results. Was it a boy? A girl? Was there a chromosomal abnormality to blame for the miscarriage? Why didn’t they tell me the result was inconclusive sooner? Put me out of my anticipatory anxiety.

and 2. Pathology noticed something in some cells that made them want to do further testing to rule out a molar pregnancy.

They suspected a partial molar pregnancy. Not so much a complete molar pregnancy.

Shockingly, words like cancer made themselves into this conversation.

It is not cancer and unlikely to turn into it since we would treat it before it turns into that. But these were not things I had prepared myself to discuss today.

What is a Molar Pregnancy?

There are 2 kinds of molar pregnancies.

1. Complete Molar Pregnancy: there is no fetus. Tissue from the placenta is abnormal and appears to form fluid-filled cysts.
2. Partial Molar Pregnancy: There may be a fetus and the tissue from the placenta may or may not be normal. A partial molar pregnancy looks like a grape-like cluster of cysts.

Exploration and Treatment

I needed to get my HCG values tested weekly until I get a negative (5 or below) test result 3 weeks in a row. The doctor said I needed to be at “0 three weeks in a row,” but I later confirmed that she meant negative (5 or below) rather than 0.

We made an partial molar pregnancy ultrasound appointment to check for any visible evidence.

If the pathology came back as it being a partial molar pregnancy, I would need to hold off on becoming pregnant for 6 months to 1 year (“preferably 1 year”) as they needed to continue monitoring my HCG.

Why can’t I get pregnant? If any tissue from a partial molar pregnancy was left over after a D&C, it can grow and it would cause my HCG to rise.  Should I become pregnant during the year and the molar pregnancy tissue was growing, we wouldn’t know because my HCG would rise from the pregnancy.

If positive for a partial molar pregnancy, I’d also need to do other tests such as a chest x-ray to make sure nothing has spread elsewhere.

It’s safe to say I left my follow-up appointment shook.

I was going in to find out the results to my chromosomal testing and left with nothing…and a whole lot more.

Some Relief

The night of my D&C 2 week follow up appointment, I received my HCG lab results.

My HCG was at 146.

I spoke to my cousin, who is a doctor and someone who had gone through a D&C after a miscarriage. We’ll call her Dr. Cousin.

She was BIG mad.

She looked into some medical journals with me on the line and told me she felt doubtful that I had experienced a partial molar pregnancy.

Why She Didn’t Suspect a Partial Molar Pregnancy

• instances of molar pregnancy among all pregnancies is 0.01%.
• I had no symptoms of a partial molar pregnancy.
• my chromosomal analysis saying there was no DNA is contradictory to suspicion of a partial molar pregnancy as that would make chromosal presence unusually high because it brings an additional set of chromosomes from the father.
• my HCG throughout pregnancy was in line with the gestational phase I was in rather than super high.
• the fact that my HCG today is down to 146 just 2 weeks after D&C points away from a partial molar pregnancy. With suspicion of a partial molar pregnancy, they look for levels under 2,000 after 4 weeks post D&C.

Dr. Cousin urged me to erase what they said today from my mind as much as I can so I can move forward.

She assured me that Pathology should be a simple and rather quick yes or no. And I should have no need to get to the persistent testing they mentioned.

Her conviction and research put my mind at ease.

Temporarily.

Because the road before me was longer and more confusing than it should have been.

My Fears & Anxiety

My fear was not that I’d get cancer. I didn’t think that was going to happen as it’s quite rare since it’s treated before it can get to that point.

Sure, I didn’t like that I may be potentially forced to be one and done but that wasn’t even it, either. I read enough to know my doctor’s recommendations were overly aggressive and I’d need to find a more experienced doctor if I had to go that route.

If any tissue was left over during the D&C and begins to grow, I found that a popular form of treatment is chemotherapy called Methotrexate. I was unsure what that would look like. Would I need to leave my toddler overnight at some point? I’d definitely need to immediately wean him from breastfeeding.

In short, I was afraid for my little boy. Leaving him for the first time and suddenly cutting him off.

Regarding my anxiety, I would be okay throughout the week until after I did my weekly lab work. Then, I’d anticipate what they would be. Did they rise? What is my journey going to be like if they do? My heart raced and my stomach would drop when I’d see the email letting me know my results were ready for my review. Then the anxiety would fade over the next day or two and then I’d do it all over again.

Timeline of Trying to Rule Out a Partial Molar Pregnancy

Starting from the top:

Week 2

October 26: My D&C follow up appointment. The doctor told me about pathology testing for a partial molar pregnancy. HCG is 146.

Week 3

November 2: I called my doctor’s office to ask about the pathology results and the delay and they assured me that it it’s just just standard wait.

HCG is at 26. Because it had gone from 78,162 down to 146 in the first 2 weeks after the D&C, I expected it to be at 0 today.

Week 4

November 8: My partial molar pregnancy ultrasound. My appointment took about 2 hours.  Mostly me waiting. All for them to tell me they don’t know any real info yet. Ultrasound looks good but we need the actual results from pathology. We did my blood draw. The doctor said we needed to discuss birth control as I need to not get pregnant until this is sorted and potentially for the next year if pathology comes back positive. She sent me home with a sample of birth control while I think over her suggestion.
I’m getting increasingly agitated.

November 9: Exactly 28 days after my D&C, I got my first post-miscarriage period. This was exciting as I felt it would help me pass any tissue that potentially remained after my D&C.

Did some light reading before bed and found this from the Cleveland Clinic:

“After D&C procedure, the doctor may continue to measure the woman’s beta hCG levels for up to one year to determine if there are any remnants of the molar tissue in the uterus. The woman should use reliable birth control methods during this time to keep from becoming pregnant.

In a small number of molar pregnancy cases, there will be some molar tissue remaining in the uterus after the suction curettage. This tissue is known as gestational trophoblastic disease and may continue to grow. It can be treated with methotrexate, a medication that is also used to treat cancer. In rare cases, the gestational trophoblastic disease may develop into a cancer (known as a choriocarcinoma). This, too, is usually treated with anti-cancer agents.”

Doctor’s notes from the partial molar pregnancy ultrasound yesterday were posted:  Discussed US findings WNL. Discussed need for hcg to reach zero. Discussed awaiting results from pathology secondary due to suspicion of molar pregnancy. Discussed recommendation for no sex due to possible molar pregnancy.

November 11: HCG is 15. Now I’m getting scared.

I wanted to know what prompted the suspicion of a molar pregnancy. Maybe the doctor had mentioned it but if she did, it wasn’t retained in the buzz of information. I asked that the doctor call me. To my surprise, the first thing she said after our greeting was “I literally just got your lab results this morning. You have to give me time to see them.”

Instant shame. I felt like a nuisance.

“I already got my results.” I said. “I’m not calling you for that. I’m calling you because I have a question.” So I asked why the suspicion for a partial molar pregnancy?  Was it something she saw during the D&C? “No. Like I said before, Pathology found something in the cells that made them suspicious.”  She didn’t know what. Then as always, she signed off saying I can call her if I have any other questions.

With this information, Dr. Cousin said I should work off the assumption that I, indeed, had a partial molar pregnancy.

Week 5

November 18: HCG is 5!

I emailed my doctor’s office to request the lab order for next week’s labs. They immediately called me to tell me I had tested negative so I didn’t need to test again next week.

“Yes, I do. ” I told them. I need to test negative 3 weeks in a row.  She put me on hold and then came back and said “The doctor made a mistake. She said you’re right. I’ll send the lab order over now. “

Well! That was a little worrisome. My doctor forgot?

Week 6

November 25: HCG is 4.

Week 7

December 3: HCG is <3.

My 3rd negative is less than 3 on December 3. 3 threes. And one is a ❤️.

I still had several questions. It’s now been 7 weeks. I’m now assuming it will come back that I had a partial molar pregnancy. What are my next steps? When is the next time I need to test?

At this point, it’s been almost a month since the last time I spoke to the doctor and I have had no direction. I’ve been reaching out to them weekly to request lab orders and going to an off-site lab.

I felt like I was steering this ship and I had no idea where we were going. At each contact that I asked for direction, they didn’t give me more than my immediate next move.

I called the doctor and instead of having her call me they asked me if I wanted to make an appointment. “If that is what I need to do to ask her my questions.”

Week 8

December 9: I started birth control (a day after I started my period).

Week 9

December 14: the day of my appointment to discuss next steps.

I became freshly scared about my appointment and my prognosis. The night before, I confidently looked up what are the chances of HCG rising after if it hasn’t risen in 6 months from now and while I didn’t get an answer to that, I got a couple of people’s stories. One being a girl in Miami whose HCG rose (didn’t specify when) and underwent the chemo and lost all her eyelashes and some hair and then had to wait 6 months after her body shed all the toxins from the chemo before TTC.

I had a feeling of overall anxiety inside me since the day before my appointment and I was afraid I was relapsing back to the time when I had debilitating anxiety. I was short of breath. When I stood in the waiting room, I felt like the floor was moving under my feet.

Aside from being nervous about what was going to happen with me, I didn’t know if I would tell the doctor how disappointed I was in how I was managing my own care and that she had lost track of me as a patient. And if I did, how would she react? Was this going to be a confrontation?

But there were no real answers in today’s meeting. No word from Pathology and the doctor said she will personally go speak to the chairman of pathology tomorrow to see what the hold up is. I asked when was the last time they followed up and pathology told them results were still pending. She said a week and a half ago. She seems to believe they may just be struggling to make a call and it will ultimately be declared inconclusive and, in that case, we will move forward as if I’m positive for a partial molar pregnancy. That means no getting pregnant for 1 year as it increases chance of another molar pregnancy. Thus making me donezo having kids for our own personal reasons that I am only not mentioning so we stay on track.

December 16: I called pathology and the CEO of the hospital in the morning to put in a complaint about the ongoing delay. It’s now been 2 months of waiting. My pregnancy plan is on pause.

Within an hour I was speaking to pathology and they told me my results have been ready since November 8th. I told them my doctor’s office called as recently as a week and a half ago and were told it was pending. There was a pause. Then “That’s not true. I’m here every day and that didn’t happen.”

The very nice lady I was speaking to contacted my doctor’s office and got their correct fax number and sent them the report. She told me to give them a few minutes to call me.

Then I got a call from the Director of Pathology. They confirmed my doctor’s office received the report. No one could tell me what the report said. I had to wait for my doctor.

The anxiety was back. And now that I knew there had been an answer for a while, I had hope that the result could be that I didn’t have a partial molar pregnancy. I was finally getting my answer today!

Despite my anger towards my doctor for this needless, anxiety-ridden wait, I still didn’t want to seem unreasonable so after 45 minutes of waiting, I called the office.

“Hi, I know you guys got the pathology report today. I wanted to know what it says?” The receptionist said, “yeah but the doctor has COVID so she’s not in today.”

Thank God my family pushed me to call. If I hadn’t, I would’ve been waiting in this heightened state of nervous-breakdowness for a while. Not to mention that I (and my toddler and husband) were just in a small room with her the day before yesterday.

I let it be known that I was unhappy.

“How are you guys going to do this to me?? It’s been 2 months!! I need my results today.”

They texted the doctor to let her know that the report was in her inbox. When she is well enough to check her email, she could either call me or release it to someone else to tell me.

I called the Director of Pathology and pleaded my case. Please send it to me or Dr. Cousin. I can’t wait any longer!

That sweet, sweet man faxed it to me!

It was scary gibberish.

I emailed it to Dr. Cousin. She read through it with me on the phone. I eagerly waited while she read.

“You’re fine.”

“Are you sure??? Is there anything at all you feel is unclear about what you’re reading?”

“No. It’s very clear.”

I silently cried.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yes. I’m just so relieved.”

“Now stop birth control and move on with your life.”

Thank God for my cousin. That amazing, beautiful beast.

I called my husband, my mom, my sisters. My mom, infamous for never crying, cried, too.

At this stage, I had lost hope that I could be totally fine. My focus had been about how treatment would go.

Around 4:45pm, the doctor called me. She coughed quite a bit before saying a muffled hello. Then confirmed the negative test and was acting like we got this report thanks to her visit to the chairman the day before 🤣. Finally, she also told me I can stop birth control.

Don’t worry, on Monday (4 days later) her office posted photos of the doctor maskless with her staff dressed up for Christmas time ❤

This doctor has amazing reviews on Google and the moms on the Mom Facebook groups stan her. But I was put through so much undue pricking and emotional distress.

Revisiting my story by writing this post showed me I carry trauma. All the anxiety and bad feelings came flooding back.

Why I’m Sharing My Story

Throughout this ordeal, I’d often look things up for relief or hope. I’d usually find the opposite.

I texted my sister letting her know about my fret.

If You Had a Molar Pregnancy

If you are dealing with a complete or partial molar pregnancy, my best advice is to search for a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist. These doctors specialize in high risk pregnancies so they are more likely to have knowledge about this issue and won’t be overly aggressive about treatment and make you put your life on pause longer than you need to.

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Thanks for reading! If you can relate on anything, please comment!