Why She Chose SofTouch

Choosing SofTouch

Doctor Joan Fleischman: Hi, so you just did a procedure about 20 minutes ago and how are you feeling?

Early Options Patient: Good, normal.

D: Normal?

P: Back to myself.

D: You’re going to leave here and go to work you said?

P: Yes, back to work

D: You know we had an interesting experience because initially, you thought you wanted to do the pill. 

P: Yes.

D: And we talked you through the pill, how to take the pill and then I came in and you were crying and you were overwhelmed by the idea of taking it.

P: Yes.

D: Tell me what happened?

P: I didn’t like the idea of having to take pain killers and possibly being woozy while I had to care for my children in the middle of the night. That’s what freaked me out, doing it alone.

D: And your husband was out of town and you were afraid because your mother in law might be…

P: Right, I didn’t want anyone to know. 

D: So then I said, “Why don’t we just do the procedure?” 

P: And I said, “Much better.”

D: So, we talked it through and you thought the SofTouch Procedure had advantages and you could just get it done. 

P: Yes.

D: And you wouldn’t have to go through this at home with your kids and so we said, “Okay, lets just do that.” So how did it go?

P: Great. Seamless. It was perfect, all done. I’m on my way and I could take aspirin if I want. I don’t even have to, so I’m happy.

D: So, initially, you seemed very clear that you wanted the pill. You were very, very clear.

P: Yes.

D: What made you think that that’s what you wanted to do? Did you read something or you heard something?

P: I had an old fashioned termination 20 years ago, that involved being knocked out, being unconscious, that was not an option. Since then I never needed to worry about this because my husband and I thought we could control getting pregnant. 

It was never an issue between 20 years ago and now I had no need to know about terminating a pregnancy. Although, I heard that there was a pill, so for me because the old fashioned way wasn’t an option I thought the pill was the only other option.

D: I see.

P: So, I started getting suspicious Sunday, took a stick test and found out I was [pregnant] and started googling right away to deal with it on Monday. We were both on the same page so all I knew to do was google “Abortion Pill. How to get it?” I thought you could get it from your regular doctor, that’s not true. 

D: So, you didn’t actually do a lot of research on how to take it?

P: Zero, nothing. 

D: Nothing, you just looked for where to find it…

P: And how to get it done immediately…

D: I think it’s a common thing that women think taking the pill is a little bit easier than it is. When you actually go through what’s involved, it is pretty involved. I’m a supporter of the pill, I prescribe it. I do it. I was one of the original researchers of it. I’m very comfortable with it and you were certainly in the right range to do it, you were very, very early. 

I think it would’ve gone well for you but, to me, it is anxiety-provoking because you are going home and you don’t know what to expect. Especially in your situation where your husband’s not home, you’ve got kids at home, you don’t know how it’s going to go… 

It’s just a hard thing to go through if you don’t have the support to do it, so I think you made the right choice.

P: I did. Yes.

D: Alright, well thanks for taking a minute. I just thought it would be helpful for other women in this situation to think about the pill vs the procedure, especially because a lot of women don’t understand the differences between  this procedure and a surgical procedure. It’s pretty straightforward, it really took a couple of minutes correct?

P: It did, it was so fast. 

D: And how was the pain?

P: It was tolerable. It was a little cramping on and off. It wasn’t constant. 

D: And you wouldn’t think that you would need to be put to sleep for this?

P: No, no, no, not at all and I can’t tolerate pain.

D: So if you can handle it, anybody can?

P: Yes. 

D: I’m glad this worked out and it seems clear this was the right choice for you.

P: Yes, absolutely.

D: Alright, thanks for taking a minute to do this.