a tubal ligation please look into it carefully. Many in fact most obgyns don`t tell us the truth. Here are some links to check out for yourselves..
We arrived at the hospital the following morning and got ready for the operation, once the spinal block was in the surgeon started cutting, I yelled as I could feel it so the aneasthetist said wait and was doing something in my back then said, okay go, once again the surgeon started to cut and again I yelled, it felted like they were ripping me; he stopped and without saying anything to my husband or me the aneasthetist got up from my right hand side walked behind the surgeon over to my left hand side and injected something into the luer in my left hand, I felt like I went flying up into the air and was going around in a white cloud. My husband said I arched back and my eyes rolled back, he said he didn`t know if I was dead or alive. They then carried on with getting the baby out which was not very pleasant for my husband, they had trouble getting him out and ended up putting two fingers in his mouth and jerking him out. We found out years later that it was the MSV manouver which sometimes is used when the baby is stuck, in our case our baby was hard under my ribs. When I came to everything look evil, the people had distorted faces, my husband looked weird, when I asked if they had started my husband said they`ve finished babe, I asked where is the baby and he said I`ve got him and tried to show me; but know matter how hard I tried I couldn`t see him. The next thing I remember was being in the recovery room, I asked the nurse, what was that stuff they injected into me, she wouldn`t tell me and said just rest, the next time I came to I was in the ward room alone with my baby, everything was horrible I looked over at where my baby was (Jordan)and started crying, the feeling that came over me was overwhelming I was devastated at the thought of never having another child. He never told me about regret which is a known thing to happen to some women.I was hallucanating and crying, they kept me pretty out of it on morphine.The next day I asked the doctor who was doing the ward rounds what was I injected with in the operating room, but he said they couldn`t read the doctors writing, I said well go down and ask him but they wouldn`t and it was four years before we found out what it was. I was a mess for four days from the drug they used which we found out is well known for bad side effects and shouldn`t be used on someone with high blood pressure, that was why I was having him early. After eight days I went home feeling very cheated and didn`t bond with Jordan the same way as my other children.I was in pain alot around the scar and had no muscle tone in my stomach, just a big gap in the middle, I exercised but it didn`t do anything and the sharp stabbing pains were hard to live with. A year later I had reconstructive surgery where they removed the old scar and sew my muscles back together which was a very painful operation but I no longer had the stabbing pains. My periods were heavy and painful and I`ve never felt the same since I had the tubal ligation. I went to my doctor asking if what was happening to me was from the T-L but was told no. I rang differrent ob/gyns but most said no.Two years later my doctor sent me to have some x-rays done to see if they could find the cause of the pain I was having in my legs and pelvic region, four days later I went in to talk with him about the results; when he came to the forth picture he pointed to two objects and said, and these are your T-L clips, I said no they aren`t I didn`t have clips I was cut and burnt, he said well I`m sorry but you`ve got clips.I was so angry and couldn`t understand it; the proceedure I had signed for was cut and diathermy. I sent for a copy of my notes about how the T-L was done and sure enough filshe clips had been used. My periods were getting worse and more painful and I was even in pain when I wasn`t bleeding. I knew it had something to do with the T-L but didn`t know how to prove it. I ended up ringing Womens Health Action Group, three and a half years had passed, I asked them if they knew of any information about side effects from T-Ls, she said I`ll have a look and post them out to you. That was on a Thursday afternoon on Saturday morning I recieved a big brown envelope in the mail. I was blown away with the information here it was in black and white, studies and information about known side effects and the same things that were happening to me, I wasn`t going crazy I was suffering the side effects from the tubal.
I then started really looking into it myself, I was shocked at all the studies that had been done and still being done, yet they don`t tell women about this before doing the proceedure. Then I found different web sites about it and was horrified at the number of women who had the same symtoms as me and were crying out to be heard, but most were getting no support from the medical community, in facted were been lied to and sent home with antidepresants. The ob/gyns who did have enough guts to tell the truth are outcasted by they co-workers for blowing the whistle. I went to a private ob/gyn to have a laproscopy to rule out endometriosis and see if they could find any other cause for the bleeding and pain, I asked him about the side effects from T-L. he admitted that there was alot of controversy but said only a few women suffered serious side effects. My doctor asked if he would unclip my clips while he was in there which he agreed to do. I was really happy that he was going to take them off even though I knew my tubes would be squashed where the clips were I hoped that maybe God would open them and the egg would be able to get to the uterus, the way they are supposed to. I had spent two hours explaining to him what had happened at the birth and how I didn`t know they had used clips ect... how I wanted the egg to be able to get to the uterus. The morning of the laproscopy I was excited thinking the clips were going to be unclipped; then five minutes before I was due to go into thearter he came over to my husband and I and said, you`ve got clips that can`t be undone I`ll have to cut them out, then turned around and walked away. I was stunned; my husband looked at me and said, you weren`t expecting that were you? I thought well he knows I want the egg to go into the uterus surely he`ll sew my tubes together. I woke from the surgery and saw him very briefly and couldn`t understand a thing he said, my husband also didn`t know what he had done. We were told before we left a couple of hours later that we would be sent a follow up appiontment, so off we go not knowing what had been found or what had been done. I was in so much pain and couldn`t walk straight for two days which I might add we weren`t warned about, and the pain from the gas they use to move your organs so they can look around was terrible. A couple of days later when I tried to straighten up I felt a painful pull in the cut he`d made just above the pubic line, I decided to take the dressing off and check, I couldn`t believe my eyes what a disgusting mess; he had stitched the pubic hairs into the cut and it was pulled in, it looked like I had hairy belly button (sorry it`s the only way I can explain it) I burst into tears and showed my husband, he couldn`t believe the mess either. The following day the hospital rang to let me know that they had the clips that were removed and did I want them, I said yes I did and could they tell me if the ob/gyn had put my tubes together or just cut the clips out and left them, he had just cut them out as far as they knew. I was gutted and couldn`t understand why he bothered considering I felt I had made it extremerly clear that I wanted my tubes together and the egg to be able to go where it was meant to go. It was the weekend so I couldn`t see him but decided to ring him on his home phone, when I asked him what had he done he said, I realised when I looked at your notes before the laprascopy that you had clips that couldn`t be unclipped so I removed them by cutting them out and had to use a little diathermy to stop any bleeding, I was so angry I could hardly talk; I said but I told you I wanted my tubes to be together, he said no you thought that the clips maybe causing your problems and you wanted them removed, I will be seeing you next week we`ll talk about it then. I was to shocked to say anything else and hung up. I told my husband and a couple who are our very good friends about what he had said, we just couldn`t believe it, I had spent two one hour sessions at $120.00 a hour explaining to this man what I wanted and that I believed the T-L was the cause of my problems not the clips themselves but the T-L and paid $3000 for the laprascopy. We went and saw him three days later to discuss what the results were of the D.C and if they found anything that could explain the bleeding and pain, it was unreal what happened; he lied and said that he had told me all along that he was going to cut them out and that I had said I believed it was the clips causing the problems. What happened was he thought I had hulka clips which can be undone by laprascopy and had even drawn pictures showing me what he would be doing, but he hadn`t checked my medical file from the hospital who done it in the first place until the morning of the operation, and must have had blocked ears the two hours I had been telling him everthing. My own G.P. was shocked when he found out what had happened. He even knew and thought that the ob/gyn was going to undo the clips. When my husband and I went and saw him a few days later he made out there had been a missunderstanding on my part and that he had said all along that he would have to cut them out, he then told us that one of the clips the one closest to the uterus was bearly hanging on and the other one was half way down the tube. I was once again shocked; first of all he was trying to cover his own sloppy work, because up until the morning of the laproscopy he didn`t know what kind of clips I had been ligated with, he had just presumed I had hulkca clips and had lead both my G.P. and me to believe he would be able to undo them while he was looking inside to see if he could find any cause for my pain and bleeding. Then the next thing was finding out that one of the clips was nearly off, I couldn`t believe it when he told me and then said oh yes that some times happens. I felt bewildered and couldn`t understand why all these things aren`t explained to women before the tubal. It was bad enough knowing that they hadn`t told us about the side effects and the facted they did the tubal a different way than I was told and signed for, now we find out the clips can work their way through the tube and fall off to go who knows where in our body, something we have a right to know about I think. I ended up a few months later being admitted to the hospital where the tubal was done, I couldn`t handle the pain and wanted them to do something about it. I was being told that a hysterectomy was an option but didn`t want that, I spoke with the ob/gyn at the hospital and told him everything that had happened and that I held the hospital responsible, therefore I felt they should pay for the operation to rejoin my tubes.I was still in the middle of having those involved up for medical missadventure and the hospital of course was aware of that. After four days in hospital and some pretty heated talks they agreed to pay for the reversal, we were so happy, after talking with the ob/gyn from the hospital and agreeing to a plan that we were happy with I went home feeling like I finely had got somewhere. About three days later we received a letter of conformation stating what we had agreed to at the hospital, we were allowed to chose whoever we wanted to do the operation and the hospital would pay all expenses. We choose the best micro surgeon and he had done more rejoining of the fallopian tubes than anyone else in New Zealand, the surgery was planned for less than a month away 20 of March 2000. On Friday the 17th of March at 12 in the afternoon the phone rings and it was the manager of the hospital saying, oh before you have your operation on Monday we need you to sign a letter, I asked what kind of letter he replied, just saying that they agree to pay for the operation and for legal reasons, I rang my husband and asked if he could pick the letter up, when he got home and I read the letter I was angry as it was a waver, saying that the hospital wasn`t saying that they had done anything wrong by paying for the reversal and that this would be an end to the whole matter. I rang him up and said I can`t sign this, he said if you don`t sign it we don`t pay for the operation. I couldn`t believe this was happening, Daves Mother was on her way up to watch our children a 600k drive, I was all ready and so happy at the possible chance that the side effects from the T.L. may reverse if the egg could go where it`s supposed to. We sought legal advice from two lawyers over the weekend and both said the hospital had to stand by their first letter. On Monday the day of the operation we spent from 9 in the morning until 12 (I was meant to be at the hospital at 12) at our local M.P.s office to see what he had to say, he rang the hospital lawyer and asked what did they think they were doing but they said, if she doesn`t sign the waver then no operation.We left the office, I was crushed; my husband said I'm taking you to the office and they can turn you away. So off we went, when I arrived it was 12:30 and the nursing staff had no idea what was going on and rushed me off to get me ready for the operation, I looked at my husband and he signaled to say nothing; about 15 minutes later the surgeon came in and said "so where do we stand" (he had been told by the hospital not to operate unless I signed the waver) I replied that we had been adviced by two lawyers that the first letter was binding, he said "lets go then". I was shocked to say the least, after all that worry and I didn't even end up having to sign it. I had the op and was in awful pain and out of action four six weeks. Unfortunately nothing changed over the next eight months, I went and had a test done where they inject dye into your uterus and tubes, it showed that my tubes were not patent. I went and talked with another OB/GYN to see if there was anything that could be done, he suggested I have a laproscopy as some times the die tests aren't always accurate; there was a thirty percent chance that the tubes could be open. I went ahead and had it done (more pain) only to find out my tubes weren't only not patent, they weren't even joined; much to his and our disbelief. He took photos while in side to show us, he nor any other OB/GYN I have corrosponded with via the Internet from different countries had ever heard of this happening before.I thought for awhile that the surgeon who did it in the first place didn't really join them and it was just a plan between him and the hospital to shut me up, as it is so hard to get the medical profession in New Zealand to believe or should I say admitt there are side effects from tubal ligations.
As nothing more could be done I felt forced into having a hysterectomy, the 15 to 18 days of bleeding a month was taking it's toll on my body physically as well as emotionally. I went in to a private hospital to have it done as I didn't trust the public systerm, unfortunitly things went very wrong even there though and 11 hours after first operation I was rushed back into surgery to be reopened and have a blood transfusion. I was told 2 days later if the nurse hadn't done what she did at 2 o'clock in the morning I would have passed away by 6am as I had lost so much blood that I wouldn't have made it had it not been stopped. I had the Lord watching me though thank goodness. The next few months that followed were difficult as I felt a wave of emotions over losing a vital part of what helps make us women, hormones that should be made will never be made again. The medical profession don't tell us that having a tubal ligation will cause a very high percentage of us to end up having to have hysterectomies within five years after T-L, it is appauling that these life changing side effects aren't told to us and why they aren't told to us is very disturbing. There is to much money to be made from subsequent surgeries. Outrageous! One Aussie Ob-Gyn said, " What good is it to them once they have had their children, just take it out." Oh is that right well how about just removing a mans ability to make the hormones they need to function properly when they have finished their family, it would be a very different story then.
I have had a six and a half year legal battle trying to get the people respondsible for the mess I have been put through, but was unsuccessful due to the closed ranks of the medical community and N.Z.s A.C.C. who are meant to help victims of medical misadventure but really they fight against you as well.