Surgical Technologists at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center

Surgical technologists, also called surgical technicians, are the unsung heros of the surgical team at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. Patients have little interaction with them except when they are in the operating room. The surgical techs are not easily recognizable behind their surgical masks and during most of the time patients are in the operating room they are asleep! The surgical technicians, however, are responsible for making sure that all equipment is in perfect working order, the operating rooms are meticulous, and that all equipment and instruments are sterile. Their training and working every day with Dr. Berger ensures that tubal reversal procedures go smoothly, safely, and that patients are under anesthesia for the minimal length of time necessary. They must think and act quickly, safely, and accurately to assist the surgeon to achieve the optimal surgical technique throughout the entire operation, from the time a patient goes to sleep until she awakes.

Meet Our Surgical Technologists

Below is a brief history about our outstanding team of surgical techs introducing them from the left to the right in the photo. Here is a link to the web site page about our four surgical technologists at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center.

Matt Murphy, ST underwent his training as a surgical technician at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center where he has worked since 2005. During this time, Matt took a break to work abroad. He describes his time away as an enlightening, growth experience. Matt says that Dr. Berger is always encouraging him to research topics about surgical technique and to continue his education. Matt’s favorite subjects are science and medicine and he is in the process of getting his associates degree in science. Matt’s fluency in Spanish permits him to communicate easily with Spanish speaking patients.

Brandon Martin-Williams, ST also was trained at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center as a surgical techician where he has worked since 2006. During his time at Chapel Hill Surgical Center Brandon has become interested in furthering his career in medicine. Even while working full-time, Brandon has been taking classes to finish his bachelor’s degree in Biology. Brandon hopes to go to medical school in the near future. With his demonstrated skills in the operating room, Dr. Berger believes that Brandon would be an excellent doctor.

Donna Sisson, ST has worked as a first assistant to Dr. Berger in surgery since 1990. Prior to coming to Chapel Hill Surgical Center, she worked as a surgical technologist at St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, SC and at Durham Ambulatory Care in Durham, NC where she specialized in gynecological and plastic surgery procedures. Donna says that working with Dr. Berger is particularly rewarding because Dr. Berger always strives to be on the leading edge of his profession. Donna was Dr. Berger’s first assistant in the Learning Channel’s documentary “The Operation” that features Dr. Berger performing Outpatient Tubal Ligation Reversal.

Kathy Scronce, ST has been a surgical technician at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center since 2005. She previously worked as a surgical technologist at Durham Regional Hospital in Durham, NC. Kathy appreciates the fact that Dr. Berger and all of the staff at the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center are extremely devoted to their patients. Kathy is an integral member of this caring team who work so well together and who concentrate on optimal surgical technique to ensure a successful experience for tubal reversal patients.

Dr. Berger’s Comment

Over the many years I have been performing tubal reversal surgery, I can truly say that I have never worked with a more professional, well trained, and competent surgical team than the one that currently exists at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. Not only are these individuals professionals in every sense, but also they are exceptional people who are truly dedicated to providing the best and safest care to patients that is possible. Although the patients who come to Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center are often unaware of the importance of these essential team members, our patients benefit everyday from the extraordinary way that our surgical technologists do their jobs. It is one of the many factors that makes Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center stand out for its excellence in patient care.

There have been many milestones in outpatient anesthesia since its inception. Imagine what the first patient was thinking when told he or she would be going home the same day after the administration of a general anesthetic! These milestones include vast improvements in patient monitoring, shorter acting anesthetics, and improved surgical techniques.

Anesthesia at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center

All patients at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center receive “general” anesthesia. General anesthesia for any day surgery center, but specifically for tubal reversal surgery, begins with our first phone call to prospective patients, weeks and sometime months before the actual surgical procedure. As an anesthesia provider this offers me a unique opportunity to care for patients in an outpatient, day surgery setting.

Our patients travel from all over the world to have their tubal ligation reversal performed by Dr Gary Berger. Some patients have just the basic preoperative lab work, while others have medical problems that require additional preoperative lab tests. In either case, these are done in the patient’s hometown and then faxed to our office for review.

Before Your Tubal Reversal Procedure

We conduct our anesthesia interview over the telephone at least a month before the scheduled procedure. This is the first step to providing good, comprehensive outpatient anesthesia care. Our next step is to send each patient written instructions of what to expect when they arrive in Chapel Hill.

Once our patients arrive at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center we meet them personally and go over their history again. This ensures that both the patient and the anesthesiologist understand each other completely. We also review their instructions for that evening, making sure they understand completely about diet and other restrictions they will have to follow. The morning of surgery is less stressful for our patients because they have met our staff and have a full understanding of what to expect.

During And After Your Tubal Reversal Procedure

The tubal reversal procedure is short, only about an hour. We work closely with Dr. Berger to assure optimal pain control. During the surgery he injects local anesthesia into the muscles and surrounding tissues, thus decreasing the amount of general anesthesia necessary. In addition, our patients need less postoperative narcotics.

Our postoperative focus is then on nausea and pain control. Since each person is different, we monitor pain scores, and when our patients are comfortable they are discharged from our step down recovery room to their own hotel rooms.

We follow up with each patient and have an on going data base so that we may continue to improve our patient care in the area of tubal reversal anesthesia.

Anesthesia Team At Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center

Pam Mills CRNA Caryn Hertz MD James Split MD Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center Anesthesia Staff

We Will Ensure Your Comfort

Our experienced anesthesia team will ensure your comfort before, during, and after your tubal reversal surgery. Our two board certified anesthesiologists and registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) specialize in outpatient anesthesia and have a total of more than 50 years of combined experience. We are an essential part of the medical and nursing team who will assess your medical status prior to surgery and will care for you during and after surgery. Our experience working every day with Dr. Gary Berger in the operating room and the recovery nurses in the post-anesthesia care unit results in the most effective care for each patient.

Submitted by Pam Mills, CRNA

After my first meeting with Dr. Berger, I drove home and was ecstatic our conversation went so well. I did not know what to expect when I first visited the center but my visit was everything I could have hoped for. Immediately when I got home I told my wife about my experience. I had never told her about my previous dream so I also divulged to her my vision about my visit to Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. She was amazed I even had such a dream because she is aware I am not a very superstitious person. To this day we still can not believe I had a dream foretelling the start of a new career.

Dr. Berger and I had several more meetings after our initial meeting. I was able to explain to him my career frustrations and my desire to become a tubal ligation reversal specialist. I was able to learn more about him, his background in infertility and in vitro fertilization, and his evolution towards becoming an exclusive provider of tubal ligation reversal surgery. Our meetings were productive and I became even more certain I wanted to become a specialist in tubal ligation reversal.

As I began to seriously consider transitioning to become a tubal ligation reversal specialist I began to realize several things about myself:

• As a physician I want to help people. I especially enjoy helping people obtain goals which are not easily available.
• I take enjoyment in doing surgeries other doctors are either afraid of or incapable of doing.
• I value letting patients make their own informed decisions. I have never felt the need to impose my beliefs upon other people. I rarely judge the decisions of others.
• I dislike hospitals. I feel they are unhealthy (for patients and doctors) and are loud, noisy places.
• I really enjoy working in outpatient, ambulatory surgery centers. I feel less confined than in the hospital environment.
• I like to be efficient. Being idle is extremely difficult for me.
• I can not take good care of others if I can not take good care of myself and family. Long nights, weekends, and poor medical outcomes began to gnaw away at one’s humanity and compassion.

It has been almost a year since I first met Dr. Berger and the staff at the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center and started my path towards becoming a reversal specialist. I have realized many things about myself and my desires. I am eagerly looking forward to a career in helping women correct the misgivings of prior decisions.

After my dream of becoming a tubal reversal specialist, I emailed Dr. Berger to ask for his assistance in teaching me his techniques of outpatient tubal reversal microsurgery. I was a little reluctant to reach out and make contact but, as I previously mentioned, email is a great way to receive rejection.

When I received his return email I was afraid to open it. I thought I would click on the reply and read the typical - “Thanks for your interest but (fill in the blank) - we are not interested at this time.” Instead, I was astounded by his response. One line of his email is still vivid in my memory. The line read,

“I always thought one day I would be approached by the right person…..”

When I read this line in his email, I was ecstatic. I thought to myself, ‘Hey, that is me. I am the right person!’ I felt as is if I were a little high school boy who had his invitation to the prom accepted by the prettiest girl at school. These kinds of things never happen to me. I could not sleep well for several days because of my inner excitement.

The day came when I went to Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center for my first meeting with Dr. Berger. I was extremely tired because the night prior to our meeting had been a sleepless one since I had been on call in the hospital delivering babies.

I approached the building and entered through a passageway which led me into a courtyard. The first thing I remember was hearing the sound of a fountain echoing in the courtyard walls. It invoked a soothing feeling. The fountain was placed next to a set of stairs and was standing on a bed of small, rounded river rock. The stairs led up to the second level. I ascended the stairs to the second floor. I was extremely tired but I could not but help feel a sense of calmness within the courtyard. The experience brought back memories of being in church as a child. There was an overwhelming sense of peacefulness.

I entered the office and was seated by the receptionist. While I waited for Dr. Berger, I read through several of the photo albums in the waiting room. There were pictures of many tubal reversal babies and letters of thanks and encouragement. These photo albums seemed like the fruit of a fulfilling and successful career.

Dr. Berger came out to meet me and we went into his office and talked for about 45 minutes. I explained my desire to become a tubal ligation reversal specialist. He told me about his background and how he had come to specialize in tubal ligation reversal. His training, history, and career development were very interesting. I was especially interested in how he had evolved to solely provide such a specialized service. Although we were very different people, it became clear to me that we shared many common fundamental beliefs. Overall, I thought our meeting was very productive. At the conclusion, I shook his hand and thanked him for meeting with me. Since I knew he was busy (and I was tired) I expected to make a quick exit. As I was about to leave, Dr. Berger said, “Let me show you around.”

A strange feeling came over me. I quickly dismissed my strange feeling but readily took him up on the offer. He showed me the top office and waiting room. We then went outside, down the stairs, and past the fountain and decorative rocks. Again another strange feeling went through me- a sense of deja vu. He then showed me the break room with tables for eating, the operative rooms and the recovery room.

I was extremely impressed by two things. First, the entire place was absolutely the cleanest health care facility I had ever been in - I literally felt I could eat off the floor. Second, it was the quietest health care facility I had ever been in. I am used to noise, commotion, screaming, and yelling. I had never been in such a calm health care setting before.

At the conclusion of our tour, I shook his hand again and thanked him again for his time. I left and went to my car. As I started to put the keys into the ignition, I had to pause. I began to process what had happened. I began to investigate my sense of deja vu. I had been here before. I had seen this. I had done this before. It all began to come to me. This was the dream I had several weeks prior!

Then it all began to make sense. The two levels. The water and the fountain. The boulders. The table. The sense of happiness and calm……….these things never happen to me. I quickly suppressed these feelings. Why? I don’t know. I think I was afraid I was building this up to be more than it was or would ever be. I started the car and drove away.

Posted by Charles Monteith, MD

Divine Revelation and My Dream

A good idea, especially a really good idea, will make sense in every way. I began to analyze what a career as a tubal reversal specialist could mean for me. I could learn the surgical technique of tubal ligation reversal, which is gradually becoming a dying science and a lost art. In this process, I could help a large group of women regain both their fertility and wellness through tubal reversal. I could do all of the above and, at the same time, create a better, more fulfilling life for myself and my family. Once you examine all the angles and curves of a good idea and determine the piece fits perfectly within the puzzle of one’s life, then you begin to fill a sense of becoming more complete.

There was one problem. I had no way to credibly learn the techniques of tubal ligation reversal. I could apply for a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology (REI). This would mean three more years of training, mostly in In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and I probably would not get any tubal ligation reversal surgical experience. A close friend of mine recently finished a fellowship in REI and he had done many rounds of IVF but only three tubal ligation reversals over three years time- that’s one per year! He now is a reproductive endocrinologist who expected to adequately counsel patients about reversal surgery and perform these surgeries on patients. Many patients wonder why their REI doctors advise IVF and not tubal ligation reversal. I quickly determined returning for a REI fellowship was not a good idea for me for many different reasons.

I put my idea of becoming a tubal ligation reversal specialist to rest for several weeks. My idea was never fully resting and was still evolving in the background of my mind. It still would not let me go.

What I am going to share next you will probably never hear from me again. Most people reading this have little idea who I am. I am not a superstitious person, nor am I an overly religious person. I can not explain what happened to me next in any way other than divine revelation.

I rarely remember my dreams; however, this one I will never forget. I went to bed thinking about a career in tubal ligation reversal and I had a dream which, I now realize, would foretell my future………

In my dream I met an older, somewhat chubby man with grayish hair. He was slightly balding and seemed content. He greeted me in front of his building which was partly his home and partly his office. He appeared proud of his creation. It was a two story building- split level. He took me on a tour. The top level appeared to be regular, albeit nice living quarters. The home was gorgeous and I don’t remember many details but I do remember a feeling of contentment and completeness. This gentleman then took me outside of the top level and down and across a courtyard. I remember several large boulders and a fountain with water. We crossed over the courtyard and entered the bottom level of the building which was large and appeared like a wine cellar cave. There was a large, rectangular wooden table with candlelight. A large group of people, approximately 10-20 people, were eating and appeared to be having a good time. I was not sure if they were friends or family but they seemed to all be getting along well. They looked up, acknowledged me, but kept on with their festivities………

The dream then came to and end. This was it, I had to leave, and this is what I vaguely remembered the next morning when I awoke.

Again, I am not much for dream interpretation so the next morning I put this dream to rest and continued with my daily life.

Several days later I decided to contact Dr. Berger at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. I called his office and asked for his email address. I was a little afraid to contact him but email is a good way to receive rejection.

I emailed him and his response floored me.

More to be continued……..