The MyoSure® procedure and a mother's successful pregnancy
Angie Morrow dealt with the pain, discomfort and inconvenience of uterine fibroids for years, including menstrual periods so heavy she was forced to use the bathroom every half hour. She handled interruptions to her work and personal life and the frustration of doctors who never offered a solution.
It wasn’t until the growths in her uterus jeopardized her chances of having a baby that she learned what fibroids were and what she could do to get rid of them.
Angie and her husband, Todd, had a 6-year-old boy named Ryan who, at age 2, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne is a fatal disease that causes severe muscle degeneration and weakness, usually beginning between ages 3 and 5.
As Angie puts it, “Physically, he’s a lot weaker than his classmates. He can’t jump but he tries, he gets tired a lot easier, and so his muscles always hurt. Kind of like the way we feel after we run a long distance, that's how he feels all the time.”
The couple were ready to have another baby, but they learned there was a 50% chance the child would also be born with Duchenne. They turned to in vitro fertilization, a process through which their doctor could select healthy eggs without the Duchenne gene, fertilize them and transfer the embryos to Angie’s uterus.
Unfortunately, fibroids can impact the chances of successful embryo implantation, so Angie’s fibroids needed to be removed before the IVF.
Minimally invasive and typically done on an outpatient basis, the MyoSure procedure proved successful and played a part in Angie’s doctor’s IVF treatment plan, which eventually made it possible for her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Jacob.
Todd works at Hologic, so the Morrows knew about the MyoSure procedure. After speaking with her doctor, Angie decided to try it. Minimally invasive and typically done on an outpatient basis, the MyoSure procedure proved successful and played a part in her doctor’s successful IVF treatment plan, which eventually made it possible for Angie to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Jacob.
“We’re finding as time goes on, Jacob is becoming a bigger part of Ryan’s life, and we hope and pray that he will be his best friend and someone there for him,” Todd says. “This was the first time in 25 years in medical device manufacturing that I ever had a device that was close to being my responsibility actually touch my family’s life.”