My name is Jennie. I'm a wife and a mother. I have been married to the man of my dreams, Trever, for 9 wonderful years. We have 5 beautiful daughters who fill our lives with joy and excitement. We just had our 6th child. Our son Caleb.

I was diagnosed with a rare condition called Placenta Accreta along with Placenta Previa. Accreta is a condition where the placenta attaches to the scar tissue in the uterus. It will often continue to grow to deeper tissue (increta) and even through the uterus attaching to other organs(percreta). I ended up having an 11 hour surgery, including a hystorectomy, and bladder repair. I received 7 units of blood and blood parts. (This is a lot of blood loss for my surgeons, but minimal blood loss to those who are not as experienced in these deliveries. I spent 36 hours in the ICU after surgery. I have also had many other complications afterwards including another minor surgery 2 weeks later. These complications are somewhat normal for the type of surgery I had.

I had a team of specialists doing my surgery. Obgyns, Gyno-oncologists, trauma surgeons, urologists and anesthesiologists. This team has specialized in techniques helping with minimal blood loss. Those with accreta , loose large amounts of blood because the placenta cannot detach naturally at delivery.

My goal is to help save women's lives by giving this terrible condition a voice. So many are ignorant to its fatal attack. Doctors and women alike, need to be educated about Accreta. Many have never even heard of it. The numbers are on the rise because of so many women choosing to have c-sections when it isn't necessary. Not all women can avoid it, but many can. Please help me give Accreta a voice, by sharing the information in this blog. (There are numerous posts with information on Accreta as well as the Accreta team who took such great care of me.)

Thursday, May 9, 2013

My Thoughts

I just got a comment on here from the wife of one of my favorite doctors! Rebecca, i cant tell you how much your comment made my day. You are totally right, I was in the best of hands. I was well taken care of. I replied to your comment, just in case it doesn't notify you. Will you please send me your contact info if you don't mind? Jennieplastow@gmail.com. I would love to keep in touch with you and him.

 I have been kind of emotional since I heard the news of Katrina's passing. I have felt so helpless, wishing I could do or say something to make it all better for that poor man and his children. It really hit home hard for me and really put my own life into perspective. I never fully grasped how much danger I was really in with losing my life. It kind of shook me up a bit.

My husbands cousin delivered the day before Katrina. They even had the same high risk doctor. I asked her if she knew them. She didn't, but did mention that their babies are near each other in the NICU. I cannot imagine what he is going through right now. Visiting the baby in the NICU by himself and trying to take care of his family all at the same time. All the while, mourning the loss of his eternal companion. It is so heart breaking to think about.

I asked Trever last night if it was bad that I felt so guilty for being the one that lived. I know that there is nothing I can do or could have done, but I still feel guilty. It pushes me, that much more, to make the most out of my life. It also make me want to push that much harder to raise awareness about this terrible condition. As Dr. Perlow once told me....this goes way beyond high risk.

If any of you have media connections and would like to help us raise awareness, please feel free to contact me. We need to do whatever it takes to educate others, about Accreta. Many woman die, because they or their doctors don't know about Accreta and are not able to have the doctors needed to save their lives. Even still, like In Katrina's case, some still don't make it. Even with a team of specialists. It's so sad!!! I can't imagine my babies growing up, never knowing their mother.

I don't want to scare others into not having more children. We all take a risk with having children. It's a risk that is well worth it! Every child is a blessed miracle. Every delivery is a miracle. I just want to help give each woman a fighting chance with Accreta. My doctors have worked so hard to find ways to minimize blood loss and save lives that normally would have been lost. They also want so badly, to give Accreta a voice. Please help us give it a voice. I am open to any and all suggestions on how to do that.
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1 comment:

  1. rebeccaMay 10, 2013 at 7:02 AM

    Hi Jennie:)

    Here's my email- rebecca dot lutter @ gmail.com . I'm so glad you are making this a bit of your mission to make people aware of this:) I would've never thought about it before, but I told a friend who lives in Tuscon, to have her doctor check today where her placenta is and continue to watch it:) She is pregnant with twins and has already had 4 C-sections. I wish I had media connections to help you, but Facebook is a great tool these days:)

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