411 Bliss

Every year in the U.S. alone hundreds of thousands of women are persuaded to undergo tubal ligation surgery. The number varies depending upon the source but of those women who do this, many will decide they want to reverse the surgery. The premiere place to do so is the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center.

Unlike any other place you can name, tubal reversals are the only thing done at the center. You won’t have to worry about something else, like in vitro fertilization, being pushed on you. As an IVF is a more expensive procedure that usually requires more tries, you will find this is the procedure that will be presented as your best option whether it truly is or not. Not so at CHTRC.

It is Dr. Berger who has brought Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center to the forefront for tubal ligation reversals. No one can match his background and training within this field. He has had the opportunity to study under and observe Dr. Winston himself, the man who was the pioneer in microsurgical tubal reversal procedures. Put that background together with the sheer number of tubal reversals Dr. Berger has done and you have someone who cannot be matched. Dr. Berger performs these operations, and only these operations, four times a day, five days a week.

The surgical technologists are the ones who keep the operating room all to rights. They ensure the operating room works correctly, that everything is sterile as it should be and that the room itself is meticulous. You wouldn’t recognize them if you saw them because you will not usually see them. They are in the operating room with masks on so you can’t see their faces. Besides you will be asleep in the operating room. The first assistant has been on Dr. Berger’s staff and worked with him for eighteen years. Does your surgeon have the same staff after eighteen years?

Long term staff goes for the Director of Anesthesia at the center as well. Dr. Caryn Hertz has worked at the center since 1995 following her five year stint at Duke University Medical Center. That she worked at Duke and now works with the staff at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal should show what a top notch doctor she is. Again, this long term association with the team will mean your surgery is in great hands. No wondering just how much experience the anesthesiologist that your luck of the draw at some hospital will pull up.

Looking at the nursing staff next will again show you the quality of the people who work at CHTRC. Some have been there long term as well. What really matters is how much they really care for the women who come to the center looking for a second chance at having a baby. Most likely it’s the nursing staff who will talk to you and answer your questions. You can even talk to them via the message board at forums.tubal-reversal.net.

Maybe what I should mention next is the message board that allows all the ladies who are thinking about having a tubal reversal talk to all the ones who have had the surgery. It forms the basis of a type of support group though it is not officially one. Not only that but you can get your questions answered there by the staff as well. Sometimes even Dr. Berger will drop in and answer questions. You will find the latest pregnancy announcements,too.

Another thing about CHTRC is that they will follow up with you for up to one year. They will make phone contact to talk to you and see how things are going. They do this at six months as well and a few other times more closely to the actual surgery as well. Using what they learn from you, and all the other women, they are able to provide statistics about the success rates to other women who are looking at the surgery as well. But forget about those statistics. How many surgeons do you know that has someone following up with their patients up to a year after surgery just to know what is going on? That’s just another mark of the care and professionalism you will encounter at the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center.

What you want to know most is what things will affect your pregnancy after tubal reversal. After all the point behind having tubal ligation reversal surgery is to get pregnant and have a child. So just what factors affect how fast you can get pregnant or even how good your chances are of becoming pregnant after undergoing the reversal procedure?

Probably the first thing to consider when considering getting pregnant whether having had your tubes tied or not has to do with age. Even if a woman has not undergone a tubal ligation, the older she is the more likely it will be that she will have a problem conceiving. This is just a fact of life, though you will have heard of some women getting pregnant at what some would consider an advanced age. It just boils down to the younger you are when having your tubal reversal surgery, the higher the probability of getting pregnant after tubal reversal is done.

Some facts and figures relating to how age affects conception rates is as follows. A woman still in her twenties will find she has about a 77% chance of getting pregnant. Older still at 35-39, the rate fall to only a 62% chance of getting pregnant. And of course, for a woman who has gone past the 40 milestone, her chances of conception are only 34%.

The next factor that plays a part in getting pregnant after a tubal ligation reversal procedure is how long the fallopian tubes were left from the original tube tying procedure. The more the doctor has to work with the better the chances are. Some will find they conceive quickly but others will take five years or more. The condition of the fallopian tubes, the length they were left and thus what the doctor has left to reconnect, and how well they are reconnected all play a part in how soon you can get pregnant and what your chances of getting pregnant are.

Next factor is how long ago did you have the original tubal ligation procedure? It is an unfortunate fact but the longer it has been the more likely there has been some damage done to the tubes and thus lowering your chances of the reversal surgery being successful. Time just plays a big role in reversing the original procedure with several of the factors and this is one more. But that does not mean it is impossible. It just means your chances are less than someone who had it done more recently.

Something else you may have considered, or are considering, is using in vitro fertilization, or IVF, instead of undergoing the reversal surgery. Your doctor may even push this option. However, a number of studies found that women having the tubal ligation reversal are more successful in conception than those undergoing the IVF treatment.

One such study from the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center, www.tubal-reversal.net, where they keep excellent track of their patients, it was discovered that the women who had the tubal reversal done, instead of the IVF treatments, conceived more easily. In addition, the number of actual babies born after they became pregnant, was higher for the tubal reversal surgery than for those who underwent IVF. Even better is that the reversal surgery is done generally on an outpatient basis with only about an hour in surgery thus lowering the cost of this treatment versus the IVF treatment which can take many tries.

Think about what we have written about in this article. Any of these things, maybe even all of them, can and will have an affect on the outcome of such a surgery. Conception will take time but the more the factors are to your benefit, perhaps the less time it will take for pregnancy after tubal reversal surgery and the sooner you will hold that darling infant in your arms.

Among the methods of stopping conception available to women is the method of having their tubes tied. Along with the normal surgical risks a woman undergoing this procedure has to be aware of, there is the addition of Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome. Looking around the Internet will provide you with story after story of the painful and embarrassing experiences of the women who suffer it.

A long list of thirty-five possible symptoms can be found when looking into the symptoms of Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome, or ptls for short, on different websites. However, when you read the personal stories of the women suffering from this after effect, you will most often read of longer bouts of and stronger PMS symptoms, bad mood swings, and very altered periods usually with severe bleeding so bad they cannot even leave home. Also suffered are migraines, no sex drive, weight gain and severe cramping.

Perhaps what is even worse for these women are the responses from their doctors and surgeons when these symptoms are brought to light. They range from a “there’s nothing wrong and so you’ll have to learn to live with it” attitude to outright telling these women it’s all in their heads and they need professional counseling. One doctor has been quoted as saying that PTLS is a “medical myth” on medicinenet.com.

One possible treatment these poor women will receive is to be put back onto birth control pills. Considering they went through the tubal ligation surgery instead of using birth control pills, they don’t seem to be coming out ahead. But there are some doctors, and given how many times this seems to be the treatment given most doctors, are of the opinion that what these women are suffering is due to going off birth control pills or to age. Sometimes the women are told they will just need to get a total hysterectomy. Has anyone wondered what that implies?

This is why our quoted medical myth doctor suggests that women about to undergo a tubal ligation surgery should go off birth control pills several months before the procedure. I’m guessing that the supposed age-related factors are something you just have to live with. However, I’m not sure these suggestions will do much to help those women who were pregnant and had their tubes tied upon having their child. Obviously no birth control pills were being used prior to the surgery. Nor do the “age related factors” seem to have any application to those women still in their 20’s and experiencing these problems.

Informing women about to undergo the tube tying surgery would be one thing that should be done. Most have no idea that ptls is even a possible complication to the surgery. Mostly they are told that there is a chance for an infection, hemorrhage or a problem related to the use of general anesthesia as you would have in any surgery. What is added for this particular surgery is the additional complication of an ectopic pregnancy. This information is from the FDA’s own website. The “Coalition for Post-Tubal Women” is trying to accomplish a change in the consent form. Better counseling about this possibility would be good as well but since many, dare I say most, doctors believe this to be a mythical syndrome, who knows if it will ever happen. At least let them know so they can do their own research and make their own decisions if this is something they want to risk.

Even if a better consent form and counseling were available, it still won’t help those who have had the surgery and are now suffering the effects of post tubal ligation syndrome. You could try the options talked about above like birth control pills or a hysterectomy. Or you could try a tubal ligation reversal surgery. In a study conducted by Dr. Berger of Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center on the women who have come to him and complained of having the symptoms of ptls, 90% saw a reduction in their symptoms. You can read the stories yourself at http://forums.tubal-reversal.net/ where the ladies are happy to help as well as nurses who provide information.

A further review of the site for Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal reveals a forum where many threads can be found addressing the issues of PTLS. It seems women ask if tubal reversal is the best way to take care of the symptoms. In every case I read, other women answer in the affirmative describing how much improved their lives are in all respects, including the possibility of having another child. Even those who have not become pregnant are rejoicing just because of the relief they are getting from post tubal ligation syndrome, myth or not.