kas2003
Wow!! I had to respond to your post b/c I just had the same thing happen, all while breastfeeding!! On 9/16/08 I had the Mirena IUD inserted 6 weeks post partum on Drs advice. We now have 3 children and it seemed like a good idea. Although Mirena paperwork does metion this may not be for breastfeeding women, my dr seemed to think it was no big deal. During insertion I experience cramping and the dr reassured me it was 'normal'. I went home and just sat on the couch for hours (which is unheard of as I have 3 children and a business to take care of). Day two I was up and doing my regular routine but still had severe cramping and bleeding, took Motrin. Day three, more of the same and so on. Until on Day 8 I called the dr and demanded I come in to dr to remove the damn thing already. After I saw the dr. they could not find the strings, they tried several instruments to remove it and I experienced more cramping and more bleeding. Dr. ordered an ultrasound right away and could not find the iud, then same day went in for xray, where they found the iud on the left side of my body, it had perforated while the dr was inserting it. Needless to say I just had laproscopic surgery last thursday 9/25/08 to have a Mirena iud removed. I DID read the info provided by Mirena and knew there was a slight risk of this happening, 1 in 1000 it says -- lucky me! And as for breastfeeding dr said shouldn't effect baby. I would NOT recommend IUD to anyone as it has to be removed by a dr no matter what, and the potential side effects can be serious and even require surgery!! Surgery ofcourse comes woth its own list of dangers. I don't know anything about a law suit but since the insertion I have read blogs of women complaining about lingering side effects even though the insertion went well.
The surgeon said she has seen this sort of perforation many times before and had just performed the same surgery a week before. She seems to think that perforation happens to 1 in every 300 to 400 women or more. Also both surgeon and dr agree that b/c your uterus is very soft after having a baby that the incidence of perforation may increase.
I don't know if this makes a difference but I had one baby by c section 5 years ago, and my other 2 where all natural. I mention b/c I don't know if scarring etc. may make a woman with a prior c section more likely to experience perforation or not.
I was very very very scared for surgery and even more so b/c of breastfeeding my baby. I did a pump and dump for 24 hours after surgery. However all I feel now is relief. I do have two small holes from surgery one in my bellybutton, and one through my prior c section scar. But No more thinking about the IUD as it is gone.
You can order all of the reports about your medical treatment from your xray report and so on and they HAVE to release them to you as it is YOUR right as a patient. There is something called the Patients Bill of RIghts. There are even patient advocates, etc. If it does come to surgery look up your surgeon.
I think more women should know that the IUD could be great, but there is a very REAL possibility that something could go very wrong, and b/c the side effects of the IUD are similar in descriiption to the perforation syptoms it could be a very long time before you even realize what has happened.