Collection: Non-Fiction

True things, from family oral history to educational science zines

Transcript

Family Lore: (mostly) true tales of my family

Like many family members, my Uncle Ted died before I was born, in a motorcycle accident.

He and my Aunt Marthe were married in her native city of Baltimore, and moved to the Appalachians to raise kids as hippie rednecks- as many of our family had been before.

They had the requisite pack of dogs, and a paddock that, when I visited, held a horse or a pony. At the time though, it held goats.

They had a garden, where they grew all the usual-

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Toon Julia: So, overall, not a great time. The question I keep getting is: should this deter anyone? And honestly, I don’t think so. I.U.D.s give you direct control over reproductive decisions. That, combined with low failure rates, makes it attractive for lots of people. I just happened to get a weird complication and wanted to share!

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At the top of the page, a C.N.A. brings Julia medication as she lies on the exam table. A happy Julia stands in the middle of the page, with an I.U.D. and a menstrual pad floating around her. A tiny Julia at the bottom crosses her fingers hopefully.

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Toon Julia: And that was it! After I was crampy and nauseated, but that passed soon. Because I had the Mirena, which uses hormones, my hormones went whacky and I had some periods that weren’t totally regular… but every body’s different. Now I feel great! So far I haven’t had any weird cramps, or the other symptoms. Fingers crossed.

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From the top of Julia’s head looking towards her feet as she lies on the exam table. The doctor is grinning hugely as she holds up the retrieved I.U.D. Julia’s left hand is clutching the hand of her partner, whose body is off the page. The hand looks like it’s getting squashed.

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Doctor: Got it!
Julia: OW!
Toon Julia: That is what it felt like. But, you know. Out my cervix. (I think I crushed my partner’s hand)

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At the top of the page, the three different pills are shown: To the right of the pills, a clock and a goofy Julia face show the progression of time as the pills take effect. In the middle of the page, the doctor has her hands between Julia’s legs as Julia is on the exam table, feet in stirrups. The doctor pauses when Julia tells her to stop and proceeds when Julia tells her she is ready. Below that a smiling mouth shows a tooth barely hanging onto the gums by a thread. A tiny scribble at the bottom shows an open door with a string leading from the doorknob to the teeth of a person with an open mouth, waiting

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Toon Julia: I was nervous going into the appointment. If mild sedation didn’t work, they would have ton use general anesthesia and yet another visit for this. First, the doctor took my history and talked about the procedure. Then they gave me the drugs. It took thirty to forty minutes to kick in. When it did, it felt like I’d had a glass or two of wine. I felt sleepy, my pain died down, and I was a little bit lightheaded when I stood up. The doctor and her team made sure I felt in control the whole time. Even with medication, the process still hurt.
Doctor: Ok, I’m gripping your strings.
Julia: OW! Stop!
Doctor: Tell me when
Julia: Ok, I think I’m ready.
Toon Julia: Have you ever had a loose tooth that was not quite ready, but you pulled it anyway?

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Top left corner has Julia’s face, talking. The top half of the page has a nurse practitioner, with curly hair pulled back from her face, explaining what she saw to Julia, who is sitting up on a stool. The bottom half of the page has a doctor, sitting on a stool, talking to Julia. Julia is lying back on an exam table with her feet still in the stirrups, holding her friend’s hand. She is crying from pain.

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Toon Julia: Back to me! I was first seen by a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood. She explained:
Nurse: “It looks like if I pull it might come out. I don’t feel comfortable doing that here, so I’m going to send you to my medical director. If she can’t get it, then you may need to have a small, surgical cut to unbury the strings.” (paraphrased).
Toon Julia: The second try felt even more painful. I cried. I brought my friend to have a hand to hold.
Doctor: “Since this is so painful, I need to refer you to a facility where you can have mild sedation. I could probably get it, but we don’t want it to hurt you more.” (Also paraphrased)
Toon Julia: So, after fussing with the insurance, I got a third appointment. My cramping was so bad I couldn’t walk far without having to stop and wait out the pain. I needed this thing out and done.

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Top left of page shows cross sections of a uterus with a normal, easy I.U.D. removal. The I.U.D. strings are pulled, causing the arms to fold in and slide out the uterus. Top right shows a cross section of what it looks like when an I.U.D. is embedded in the uterine wall. When the strings are pulled, instead of the IUD folding and sliding out it pulls on the wall of the uterus, causing pain. In the middle of the page, Julia describes what happens in these cases. A thin tool scrapes and wiggles around the embedded I.U.D. until it is pulled. Below that are cross sections of a deeply embedded I.U.D. and a cross section of an I.U.D. with the arm poking through the side of the uterus. At the bottom of the page a patient lies flat while an ultrasound tech views an ultrasound screen showing the placement of the I.U.D.

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Text: Normally, removal problems are limited to the I.U.D. being stuck in the wall of the uterus. The uterine lining (or “endometrium”) tends to grow thick, soft, and fast, so that it can be shed more or less monthly (this is a period). When that happens, a gynecologist can insert a tool to sort of scrape it out. Then, things proceed as expected. If it’s really in there, or if the I.U.D. has poked through the uterus (Super duper rare, I swear!) then surgery is an option. Don’t worry, they won’t go in blind. They use an ultrasound to see where the I.U.D. is. There an outside one on the belly and an inside one, where the probe goes into the vagina.

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At the top left, a front view of the cervix, with two strings exiting the cervical opening, with their ends buried at about the ten o’clock position. Below that, a side view of the cervix shows a string rubbing painfully against the cervix. In the middle of the page, somebody’s right hand is held open, with sores/rope burn across the inside joints of the fingers and part of the thumb. It overlaps with another side view of the cervix, this time with skin shown growing over the edges of a string. At the bottom of the page, a stone is shown in three stages as moss grows from the base to engulf the entire rock.

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Text: Basically, my cervix grew over my strings. They couldn’t pull the I.U.D. out without the strings, and they couldn’t pull the strings without ripping the skin (called the “epithelium”) of my cervix. How did this happen? My best guess is that the strings irritated the surface of my cervix, kind of like rope burn. As the area started to heal, the cells of the skin grew and attached themselves to my strings, holding them in place. Kind of like moss grows on a rock over time.

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At the top right, many happy people of varying bodies and genders have a “T” on their pelvis, showing they have I.U.D.s and like them. Below that, somebody with bunched up pigtails hugs a giant-sized I.U.D. Julia is in the middle of the page, talking about her experience. Below her is a strip showing the three tries, where the different doctors and nurses are trying to remove the I.U.D. as she screams and cries. A small Julia at the bottom of the page flips her hair while saying “I’m just special like that!”

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Voice over text: My experience getting it in isn't unusual. Lots of people decide to take short term pain because the I.U.D. is, straight up, one of the most effective birth control options. Plus, it doesn’t
need to use hormones for it to work, unlike pills, patches, rings, etc. Many people I know love their I.U.D. and would get it again in a heartbeat. I think I’m just super unlucky, though. Because the hassle with my I.U.D. wasn’t going in… It was getting it out.
Try # 1 Nurse: Wow! I’ve never seen this before!
Try # 1 Julia: Aaahh stop it hurts!
Try # 2 Doctor: Hm. This is not too common.
Try # 2 Julia: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIII
Try # 3 Doctor: Got it!
Try # 3 Jula: Oh god oh god oh god. How often does this happen?
Try # 3 Doctor: Literally never saw this before.
Toon Julia: What happened to me is rare enough that I didn’t find ANYTHING online, and at least two thirds of the people who tried to remove it had never seen it before. (I forgot to ask the second one, but she didn’t seem quite as surprised). But at least one other person, somewhere, someday, will have the same problem, and they should know what to expect.

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A bunch of green bacteria at the top of the page. Pen outlines of Julia in pain.

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Toon Julia: As pregnancy protection, it was great, but… well… I had an increase in infections, including a few months of on-and-off green, stinky discharge. Also I had cramps that became worse, and moved lower in my pelvis. Felt like a bad U.T.I.
Side Text: Cramping also happened during orgasm. This defeated the purpose.
Toon Julia; And the final straw was when I simply couldn’t find the strings. You’re supposed to see if they’ve moved. So, after one and a half years, I got it out!

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