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Chris' Story:
Brian and I were married July 17, 1999 just before starting a 3 year recruiting duty for the Marines. Brian has one daughter, Megan, and I have four boys...Joseph, Antonio, Benjamin & Nicholas. All were from our previous marriages. We were residing in California at the time that we married, but within 2 days were headed to Columbia, SC.
We had talked about the possibility of having or not having any children of our own, and Brian knowing that it may not be possible was just fine with that idea. After we arrived in SC, settled down, and got through the holidays we started talking. Talking about possibly having my TR so that we could have a child together. I started checking into it through the web, and was a bit discouraged by the cost.
I had a gone to see my PC Doctor (Dr. Jane Barker - She's the best!), and happen to ask her what she knew about TRs. I am so happy that I did! She then proceded to tell me that she could refer me to Walter Reed in DC for "undesired infertility." That is when everything started going wild! Me being the persistent woman that I am became very involved at pushing this thing along. I was calling constantly about my referral, running up to the GYN clinic to find out the phone numbers for Walter Reed, and even had gotten in touch with Tracy McCray of WR before she had the referral in hand. I spoke with Tracy, got the health care finders to fax the referral to her, and even had received my packette for a TR within 1 week!
I took the packette back to Dr. Barker and she ordered all my tests, did my well-woman exam, and started gathering all the necessary documentation for me to send to WR. It took about a month to get all the blood work done since it had to been done at certain points in my cycle. Then, of course, there was Brian's contribution. Twice, one week apart, he had to submit a semen sample for testing.
Dr. Barker kept a watchful eye out for my test results. As soon as they were ready she printed the information, and placed it together for me. Everything came out perfect! Luckily I also had a copy of my TL operation report! By the
time all my tests were back I had completed the several page long questionnaire required as well. Tracy told me to be sure that I had the entire packette complete before I sent it to her because many TR requests get held up for lacking information. So, I was extremely thorough!
Everything was ready to go up to WR except for one thing...the letter as to why I wanted a TR. That was tough. It had to be heartfelt. It had to be perfect. So I sat down and wrote, edited, re-edited, and finally came up with
what I felt was the perfect letter from the bottom of my heart! To this day I have no idea if anyone ever read it besides the person that open the mail, but at least I know I meant every word of it.
Then the waiting began. Tracy had told me there was an 18 month to 2 year wait! Yikes! 3 weeks went by and nothing. So I called. Tracy told me that it had been received, but we were just waiting. So I waited. Exactly 4 months from the time that I submitted the packette I got a call! I was shocked to say the least! It was just a message on my machine to call Tracy. My first thought was "well, it's probably just a courtesy call. It hasn't been long enough." Sure enough, Tracy called to tell me she had a OR date for me! I could not believe my ears! I was like a little kid all giddy with happiness! She gave me a whole week to prepare......my surgery was Scheduled for September 5th, 2000.
The next day I received a phone call from WR. It was to set up the pre-op, but there was a problem. September 4th was a holiday! I had to go to DC on the Friday before for my pre-op appointment.
Friday, September 1st came quickly. Little did I know this trip would be a true test of my faith and endurance. I left at 11 pm the night before. No Brian to keep me company. I thought, well, my appointment isn't until 10 a.m. and that will give me plenty of time to stop and eat before as well. I was so wrong! 1 hour into my trip I blew a tire! In the middle of nowhere I sat on my cell phone (thank God for cell phones), racking up the roaming fees for 45 minutes with my roadside assistance because they could not find anyone that would come to my location! Once someone was found I sat there for another 1.5 hours. After that I was back on the road, with a donut tire, and having lost over 2 hours of time. I kept thinking "it's ok, I can still make it on time." So there I go barreling up the I-95 towards DC much faster than I should have on a donut tire, stopping to search for a place to get a new tire along the way. About 8 a.m., just inside Virginia, I finally find a roadside Exxon that has a tire. Way over-priced tire, but what else could I do. I needed the tire, and had no time to look anywhere else. It was 10 a.m. before I even got near DC so once again I started racking up the roaming charges and was calling WR! I finally made it about 11 a.m., but boy was I tired and hungry to say the least. The appointment went well. Another exam, lots of talking about the procedure, I finally had the sense that things were back on track. Wrong again! I still had to go up to Bethesda for the rest of my pre-op!
I got to Bethesda thinking "this can't take too long." How many times can a person be so wrong in one day! 3.5 hours later I was done. In between visiting multiple pre-op stations I was falling asleep. Sound asleep in a matter of a few minutes! I finally got done about 4 p.m. and headed out the door with the satisfaction of knowing that all I had to do was show up on September 5th and have the surgery.
The drive home was long. By the time I was about 2 hours from home I had been awake for 26 hours, with only 4 hours of sleep in 2 days. I was tired! I was also starting to hallucinate! It scared the heck out of me. It took a few of
them to distinguish between reality and my imagination. I made it home in one piece without falling asleep though.
September 5th finally came. I was prepped for surgery, started on an IV and Doxycycline. In to surgery I went. It was 2.5 hours before I came out only to be rudely awakened by feeling extrememly sick! 4 doses of anti-nausea medication did no good, and at one point my temperature had dropped so drastically that I had many people scrambling around me covering me head to toe with warm blankets. I was in recovery for 8 long hours. I finally made it up to my room between dry-heeves, hurting because of the stitches, and wondering what I had done! My doctor came in to tell me the good/bad news. Being half out of it still I tried to listen as best I could, but I did hear the important parts. She said "Well, we were only able to repair one tube. The good one though, is 6 cm in length." I was happy, but never expected to hear that I would only end up with one tube!
It was midnight that night before I wasn't feeling sick any longer, and come to find out it was a reaction to the Doxycycline that had bothered me so much. The next 3 days were filled with trying to walk the halls, and sleeping
on a horribly uncomfortable bed. A bad back didn't help that very much. One thing that did make my stay more enjoyable were the two male nurses aids. They were so kind and caring. Young, but really were sweet. They would bring
me in pieces of candy, offer to bring me whatever I needed to make me feel better. They sat and chatted with me for an hour at a time. For the life of me I cannot remember their names, but if I ever see them again I will remember their faces!
Since the TR I have had one pregnancy. Only 4 months following my surgery. It did turn out to be an ectopic, but thankfully it was in the fimbriated ends of my remaining bad tube! I have to believe this was God's way of ending a
potential recurring problem for me so when I went in for the ectopic surgery the removed the tube up to my original TL clamp and sealed it off for good. It was a sad day to see a small heartbeat only to know that that life would
end within hours, but I know it was for the best.
Since that fateful day of February 15th, 2001 we have not conceived again. We continue to believe and try each cycle knowing that someday it will happen for us. It may take a bit longer only having one tube, but that is better odds than never having had the TR in the first place. We know deep within our hearts that we will be blessed!
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Christi's Story:
My story is like most of the women on this board. I married my high school sweetheart (so I thought) and we have three wonderful boys, Jonathan Jr. 12 yrs, Jamaurs 9 yrs and Jamon 7 yrs. Soon after Jamon was born, we split up. I didn't think anyone would want me because I had the boys but I was wrong. I met my husband Jerome on November 30, 2001. I flew to New Orleans (the Big Easy) to visit my best friend and she worked with him. We had plans to see New Orleans, but she had just got there and didn't really know her way around. Jerome so graciously offered to take us out. We went to a club and danced the night away, but somewhere in between us dancing, and laughing, Jerome and I feel deeply in love.
One year later we were married. Now came the task of getting the tubes reversed and I didn't know where to begin. I started with TriCare and that was a dead end. So for two years we thought that we would never have kids. Well when my husband got orders to Corpus Christi he bought a computer and one day I was online and just typed in the words tubal reversal and stumbled across Dr. Berger's website. One of the ladies on that site was also a member of our group and she told me about it. I was so thankful, when I pulled up the Military reversal group; I couldn't believe what I was reading. So many other women were going through the same thing as I was.
With the help of all the ladies here, I was able to get all my pre-tests done, go to my pre-op appointment and have my reversal done within 6 months. I had the t/r done August 6, 2001 at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX; it was a success, 6cm on each side. I am glad to say that we are now pregnant and our blessing is due Aug 1, 2002.
Dawn's Story:
My name is Dawn, I am 30. I had my son in 91 and my daughter in 93. My first husband and I married 3 months after my son was born,though I knew at the time it was a mistake (I loved him, but wasn't in love with him). While I was PG with my daughter I realized just how much of a mistake it was. He was never happy about the pregnancy, and
didn't have much to do with her for the first year of her life. When she was born I decided to have my TL.By the time she was one, we were fighting so bad. One day my ex came home from work, we started arguing, and my 3 y.o. son said, "Are we gonna do this again?" I thought, Oh no, we are not. I told my ex we had till after the holidays to fix things or I was gone. So I left. That was in 95. I joined the Army in 97, and after basic and AIT I went to Ft Bragg,
NC. I was there for over 2 years and had gone out with a lot of idiots when I meet my wonderful husband. We were together for 58 days when I decided I couldnt let this one get away, so I asked him to marry me. He said yes, knowing I couldn't have anymore kids, and told me the two we already had were plenty for him!!! Well one day at work, a co-worker who always seemed to be on convalecent leave for
something or another, had just come back to work. I asked him why he had been out this time and he said he had a VR. I was like, the military does that????? And that got my mind spinning. I talked to Jason, my husband, about it, and he wasn't too interested at first. I let it sit for a while. One day at the mall he saw a baby and made a comment he didn't usually make, so I said we could have one of those too. He told me to look into it, and thats where the journey begins. LOL. I went to the TMC for a referral, then had to call tricare for an appt. at the OB/GYN. Well Womac is so busy that it took over 6 months just to get an appointment. Once I did, the doc asked for a SA on DH (and we all know how much they love those, ROFL)and for my
sergical report from the TL. He said the wait list was about 9 months, this was in late May. Well in June I re-enlisted, and came down on orders for FT Gordon with a report date of Aug31. So I went back to the docs and left a post it note for him asking if he could possibly move the date up so I wouldn't have to start over. This was the last week on June, and I knew I had no chance, but figured I had
to try. On the 7th of July, 2000 the doc called and said he could get me in on the 10th, I though he meant August, so I was trying to figure out how to do that and clear post, then he said, thats Monday. I freaked out, and said yes yes yes!!!! A month and a half later I left Ft Bragg, and my husband, he had to finish school, and came to Ft Gordon. Luckily its only a 3 1/2 drive, so I went home most weekends and we started TTC'ing. In January of this year, I had to go to the ER with extremely bad cramps. I didn't think there was anyway I was PG, seeing as I had just gotten off my period 2 weeks prior, but they did a test anyway and it came back +++++. I was so happy, I called my buddy from the hospital and had him call Jason and tell him
to come down. We were thrilled, we registered at Babies R Us, and Target. Had already picked the furniture, then found out my numbers were dropping. Talk about devestation. Well it was pretty rough on us, and we started fighting quite a bit, Jason got into a fight with his instructor and withdrew from school and I pretty much gave up at work. Finally in March Jason came down here to finish school, and we thought things would get better, but they didn't. It has taken us six months to get over this, but we are on the right road again. I asked him last week if we could start TTC again, and he said sure. But this weekend he said he wanted nothing more than to have a baby with me. That's what I needed to here, so we are back to TTC again and on
cycle 1, post MC. You ladies here have been a great support system, and a fabulous inspiration in times of dispair. Thank you all for everything!
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