As everyone on this board knows, I’m not interested in having kids, so I finally talked to the doctor about getting the old tubes tied off. That was an interesting conversation; I understand that doctors have to have their own asses firmly covered, but yes, I do fully understand that being sterilized means that I won’t be able to have kids. And even if my marriage of 1 1/2 years doesn’t work out, I still don’t want to get pregnant and give birth and raise a child. That isn’t going to change with a different guy. I’m 37 years old; I don’t see me getting baby-crazy any time soon.
Anybody done this recently? I’ve had a laparoscopy before for an ovarian cyst; is the tubal surgery similar to this? Are there different types of procedures, or just your standard, one-size-fits-all cut me open and cut some tubes out? Any comments or discussion on this event would be welcome.
(Oh, as an aside, I understand that the vasectomy is much easier, but my husband is needle-phobic and can’t even discuss the surgery. I’m just tired of worrying about getting pregnant, so I’m taking matters into my own hands.)
I had mine done while having my son. He was a section so I figured while they were already in there they could tie my tubes.
They tied them in two places and removed the pieces inbetween.
One thing I did not realize is that when your cycle comes around the tubes swell. Now that they have ties on them this is a little uncomfortable. Now that I know what it is my mind is no longer trying to convince me I am broken
Vasectomies may be easier… but I was the one who would be putting my life at risk by getting pregnant again so I felt strongly that I wanted to be sure I would not be getting pregnant again.
And like you said - even if you end up with a different guy, you still don’t want to have kids - so if you do end up with a different guy, you’re already covered.
Had it done last December after my Essure procedure didn’t work (left Fallopian tube wasn’t closed.) Cool thing is that the scar is in my belly button, so it’s nearly invisible. I took the next day off work, and I was on Darvocet for a couple of days after the surgery. I’m still having a lot of pain in my left Fallopian tube (or ovary, I’m not sure), but I don’t necessarily think it’s the tubal. Could be the Essure insert.
Coincidentally, I got my ball rolling yesterday too. I actually had it rolled almost all the way up the hill a couple of minths ago, but my insurance company cackled with glee and said, “HAH! You shall not go to that hospital! You must go out of town and start all over again!” while they rubbed their evil hands together in delight.
Ahem.
I’m gotten off track, haven’t I? Anyway, I had an appointment with a new doctor yesterday. He does it laparoscopically too. He cauterizes the tubes, so there’s no ties to get tight. I’m expecting to lay around for the next couple of days after it, but mostly because general anesthesia makes me hurl. I’ve had laparoscopic surgery before, when I had my gall bladder removed, but that was a little more intensive than this is supposed to be. My friend said she was up and shopping the next day.
And in my case, if it fails, it fails. With four kids between us (two full-grown), we don’t want to start all over again, but will be able to deal with it if it comes up.
Fails, according to my new doctor, is the remote possibility that your body may develop a fistula, or tube, through the end of the fallopian tube on your uterus. If that does happen, there is a remote possibility that an egg could find its way to it, and on into the uterus. I suppose it’s an equally remote possibility that you could end up with an ectopic pregnancy should something like that happen.
Any doctors out there care to enlighten us? My doc did not get into statistical possibilities.
A friend of mine not only got pregnant the very first time she had sex, she got pregnant again after having a tubal ligation. So yes, it can fail, though it’s my understanding it’s pretty rare.
She had a second ligation surgery while she was in the hospital for the birth of her unexpected (and finally last) kid. That one worked.
One of my family members got pregnant and miscarried twice, at age 49, after having her tubes tied at age 32. However, it is extremely unlikely that this surgery will fail.
Well, I did my research, and apparently the failure rate for tubal ligation is from 0.5 to 2%. That’s not what I wanted to hear. It looks like the failure rate for tl is about the same as oral contraceptives. Crap. Maybe I can talk the gynecologist into a hysterectomy.
Featherlou, don’t give up yet. I know you mentioned in your OP that your husband wasn’t too keen on a vasectomy, but I’d suggest you try again–at least, let him visit his doctor and find out just what happens.
I wasn’t too keen on them either, but my wife and I knew we were never going to have children, and a vasectomy seemed a pretty good way of making sure. Both my GP and my urologist told me exactly what would happen, and it went a long way in allaying my fears. As it was, the operation itself was a breeze–I couldn’t see what was happening, and barely felt a thing. Heck, the doctor and I talked about pro football the whole time.
May be worth talking to him again about anyway. Or, if he’d like the perspective of one who has been there and done that, we could get in touch somehow.
You might also look into getting an IUD. The Mirena has a 99.7% effectiveness rate (both theoretical and practical, since there’s no room for you to screw it up like there is with the pill) and is good for five years. A lot of general practitioners and a small handful of ob/gyn’s won’t put them into women who’ve never had children, because of an outdated study that showed it might possibly slightly impair your future fertility. That study has since been shown to be crap, though, and if you’re looking at a tubal future fertility isn’t really an issue anyway.
They’re not for everybody, though. They had a hell of a time getting mine in (I started a thread about it last July), but my anatomy is a little, um, unusual. The Mirena contains the same hormone as Depo, so you can have all the same side effects as you can from that. Some people blow up like balloons, some have a lot of spotting, some get mood swings, etc. Me, it evened out a lot of my mood swings and stopped my periods right off the bat. I haven’t had a single menstrual cramp since the period when they inserted it.
Featherlou, do some more research about the spontaneous reversal thing. I couldn’t find the cites right away, but I do remember when I was doing my research before getting sterilised, the stats were all-inclusive. When you look into it a lot more closely, you’ll find that the younger you are, the more likely your tubes will regenerate to the point where an egg may become fertilised. Try and look for stats that are specific to your age group. I know that for under 30s, the failure rate was almost the same as the Pill failure rate (why bother having surgery then, was my thought) however if you are in an older age bracket, your chances dropped significantly (I think over 35, they dropped considerably). I don’t have anymore time to spend searching right now, but that’s what I recall. I also suggest speaking with your doctor about your concerns.
This was one of the major reasons I chose Essure instead of a tubal, as not only is the procedure thought to be less likely to regenerate (due to the method), but they also check afterwards so you know the job was done properly! But please note, Essure isn’t for everyone, and it is still a fairly new procedure.
hehehe, I know exactly where you’re coming from. I signed forms after forms after forms, stating the same damn thing. I even got one shoved in my face just before I was wheeled into the OR. I was happy to sign, simply because I think everyone should be fully informed, and shouldn’t be able to change their minds later and decide to sue.
Essure sounds great, but I don’t think I’m a good candidate for the procedure. I have a tipped uterus, an underdeveloped ovary, and ovarian cysts - my parts aren’t all the right size, in the right place. If a hysterectomy wasn’t such a serious medical procedure, I would love to have the whole mess out.
Good idea about doing more research - at 37, my body should be gearing down from reproduction, not still actively engaged in trying to put the pieces back together again.
crazycatlady, I have to avoid all hormonal birth control methods. I’ve tried pretty much all of them, and I just can’t function normally with extra hormones in my body. I wish I could - I’d just get a depo-provera shot every six months and be done with it.
I wouldn’t be so fast to write off the Essure procedure, Lou. A retroverted uterus can certainly make things more complicated (it was responsible for a lot of my fun experience last summer), but it’s not necessarily a contraindication. Talk to your doctor about the possibility; you might not be a good candidate, but you might be, and your doctor can help you make a more informed decision about that.
Also, hysterectomy doesn’t have to be major abdominal surgery. They did my grandmother’s vaginally, and she was feeling pretty normal in a matter of days. Near as I can tell, the only real reason they don’t do more of them that way is that it’s more time-consuming and harder to see what you’re doing. It’s certainly far less traumatic for the patient.
Maybe by the time my Mirena wears out, I’ll be old enough that I’ll be able to get all this useless crap yanked out.
I just had the tubal ligation surgery last November. I had it on a Friday, and was back to work on Monday. It took a little bit longer to walk from the train station to work that day, but other than that, I recovered just fine. I have a son, and my hubby and I decided not to have any more children. And like your husband featherlou, mine’s a big old chicken. I didn’t see the need to keep screwing around with my hormones, so I had the surgery. I checked into having the essure procedure, but my insurance company didn’t approve it because of its newness.
I had one incision around the pelvic bone where the tubes were severed and cauterized, and an incision in my belly button for the laparoscopy. Everything healed quite nicely. And, at my follow up, I got to see pictures of my insides! That alone was worth it!
Good advice, Crazy. I have lots of things to discuss with my gynecologist, should my physician ever get around to calling me with the referral.(“Get all this useless crap yanked out.” Ha. I think we’re on the same wavelength here.)
A picture of your insides, eh? I’ll have to inquire into that, too. It would be nice to see the parts that cause me all this pain and aggravation.
I plan on having one this year.
I want to know how long before you can lift things?
I am on the pill now and will continue to take it til I reach menopause.
Its for my period, not contraception.
But I want to be REALLY sure, so I’m getitn tied while I’m still covered medically.
