Way back in February of 2020, I had an IUD inserted. A Mirena, not that it really matters, but details are fun.
(It hurt, just fyi. It hurt a lot. My goodness. "Just take a Tylenol and an Advil half an hour before your appointment and that should be fine!" Yeah, no.)
In October of 2023 I had my tubes removed (bilateral salpingectomy). I could have had the IUD removed during the surgery, but my periods were really bad in high school and I wasn't ready to revisit that 'period' of my life just then.
Last year, I started learning about menopause and perimenopause and I realized that I have no idea what my body is doing, or should be doing. I don't have a consistent cycle. I wouldn't know if there were any changes happening. So I started tracking it (in October of 2025, because details, right?).
Indeed, nothing has been consistent. So I figured that since it's been almost seven years, why not get the IUD removed early and see what the old body really does? Of course, after coming to this conclusion, I didn't manage to book an appointment for removal for over a month, because ADHD and all. But I did finally book it, for last Friday (July 10, 2026 - I may as well be consistent, since my body isn't).
The week leading up to the removal date was weird. There was bleeding, but not normal bleeding. My anxiety about the removal pain doubled with the weird bleeding. Friday finally arrived, and we went to the doctor's office and checked in. And my appointment wasn't there.
Look, I had already booked the day off from work. I know I made the appointment. I think someone didn't book it properly. They called it a glitch in the system. I know customer service lies when I hear one.
All good. They were able to book me in for later that morning. So I lived in my anxiety ball for another two hours, then came back to the office.
The doctor asked why I wanted it removed, so I explained, and then she asked about when the last pap smear was, and I cringed, so now I was getting one of those, too, while she was in there. Fine. The speculum was gonna make an appearance anyway.
That medieval torture device was inserted and the sample taken for the testing, and then she started pulling strings. The IUD strings. I could feel her tugging on them. She looked up and said, "It's stuck."
"Oh?" I said.
"It won't come out." She got up and told me that the next step was an ultrasound. (Also, after I got dressed, she made me pee in a cup to rule that out, too.)
Well. I booked the ultrasound (had to take time off work for that, too) for today (July 14, 2026. Details, details, details). That didn't take long at all. I'd never had the transvaginal ultrasound before. That was weird.
So the clinic I went to has an app that holds the results of the testing. They took 42 ultrasound pictures. 42! And they checked waaay more than the location of my stubborn IUD.
Retroverted uterus. IUD arm possibly embedded in myometrium. And (drum roll, please) one much larger ovary, enlarged because of a cyst.
Look, I might have been cursing that IUD, but if it had just come out when tugged, that probably wouldn't have been found. I don't know what the next steps will be, but I'll record 'em. For details.
