HSG and Me
All I could hear was the bang and clang of the x-ray machine and buzzing of the overhead lights as I waited in anticipation for the doctor to enter the room. I read all the articles and blogs I could find about the procedure I was currently waiting to undergo. I thought it would make me feel better, less nervous, but my sweaty palms and shaking legs said otherwise. Hysterosalpingogram (or HSG as I had come to know it) is a procedure done to see if a woman’s fallopian tubes are patent (open) and if the inside of the uterus is normal. It starts off like a standard pap smear, they use a speculum to view your cervix. They then insert a catheter through the cervix and into the uterus so they can inject a special dye and view everything in the x-ray. A balloon is blown up inside the uterus to enlarge it before the dye is injected. Most women experience mild to moderate cramping.
I waited on the table half naked and in a medical gown listening to the bang, clang, and buzzing, trying to think of anything besides the procedure I was waiting to be performed. After about 20 min. two doctors entered the room, one which I assumed was a resident because she looked about my age. The doctor explained the procedure as the resident got the supplies ready and started to insert the speculum. She struggled to expand the speculum at the entrance of my vagina for a few minutes until the doctor decidedly took over and inserted it in the correct position with ease. The resident then collected three samples from my cervix with some swabs and prepared the catheter to be thrust into my uterus.
The doctor explained that once the catheter was inserted, they would inflate the balloon and inject the dye and that if I feel any intense pain and would like for them the pause the procedure, I could just tell them. I nodded my head and mentally prepared for the “pressure” she said I might start feeling. The catheter was then slid into my uterus and I started experiencing some pretty intense pain. The resident said she was going to expand the balloon now and the intense pain increased to a pain I had never experienced before. The doctor asked if I was feeling okay and I attempted to nod my head as I dug my nails into my palms. They injected the dye and the nurse started to take the x-rays. The doctor had me rotate a few times so they had several shots from different angles. Throughout the whole procedure I sweat profusely and felt like I was going to pass out. The doctor asked me if I was okay again, clearly noticing how much pain I was in, and I lied and said I was fine.
Once they were done the doctors left the room to review the x-rays and the nurse moved the machine and helped me sit up. I told her I was feeling really hot and faint, so she grabbed a wet washcloth and told me to hold it to my forehead. She told me I did really well considering how much pain I had clearly been in. I thanked her and asked if I could go change into my clothes. She helped me off the table and handed me my bag of clothes. I hobbled to the bathroom, took off the hospital gown, and got back into my sweats. When I came out the nurse was cleaning up from the procedure, she told me I could sit in the only chair in the room while I waited for the result.
As I sat, waiting for the doctors to come back, I thought about how much more painful and awful the procedure was than I had read. I began to feel concerned that maybe one of my tubes were blocked and that was why it was so painful for me. The longer it took the doctors to come back, the more worried I became. It was a good 15 minutes before the resident came in and told me everything on the x-rays looked good and there were no blockages. I thanked her and left. I spent the rest of the day with a heating pad. Overall it was one of the most painful experiences of my life and though I hope to never have to go through it again, the doctors and nurses were fantastic.