Lucy and Sam's Story
In January Sam and I happily found out we were pregnant. Unfortunately the excitement of sharing the news was swiftly put to an end at 7 weeks when I woke in excruciating pain.
I was very lucky to get an emergency appointment at 2am with the loveliest GP (doctor) who feared I was having an ectopic pregnancy. However, I had to wait two days for a scan at the Early Pregnancy Unit to confirm. Within a few hours of having the scan I was taken for emergency surgery as my pregnancy was ectopic and the pain was due to my Fallopian tube rupturing, and I was suffering internal bleeding. During surgery my pregnancy and ruptured Fallopian tube were removed, something that despite being told by the GP was a possibility, we had remained positive and was such a shock.
The following weeks of daily Inhixa injections (a medicine that prevents blood clots), coping with the loss of our pregnancy, being diagnosed with endometriosis, a swollen eye (so random but so ridiculous), infected stitches, the worst antibiotics, and the reduced chances of fertility, resulted in some of the most difficult weeks I’ve faced. But I was beyond lucky for the support of Sam, our family, and friends, who reminded us we weren’t alone and kept us looking forward.
Throughout this time I just wished I was well enough to be able to go out for a run and realised I had taken my health for granted until this point. Therefore it felt right to push myself and run my first half marathon for a charity that supported us through such a rubbish time.
Roughly 1 in 80 pregnancies are ectopic and are far more common than I thought, the signs and symptoms are not always easy to pick up on, but please, if you think something is not right, seek advice (you aren’t being a burden and it could literally save your life!).
Lucy and Sam completed their half marathon running through torrential rain in a fantastic time of 2 hours 47 mins.
Our enormous thanks goes out to Lucy and Sam for their wonderful work taking on this half marathon, raising essential funds and awareness. If you want to raise funds and awareness for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, please visit our fundraising page. You can also email our Fundraising Co-ordinator Jill who will be very happy to help and guide you: Jill@ectopic.org.uk.