Tubal Reversal Patient Satisfaction Messages ‘ptls’ Category

We are calling the doctor for blood work today. We are praying for the best, but whatever happens we are so thankful that the choice to conceive is ours again.

Thank you Dr. Berger for taking my PTLS symptoms away. That was our primary reason for the surgery. Also, thank you now for the possibility of future children. We will keep you posted on our outcome.

Date of tubal reversal: 06/16/2009
Positive pregnancy test: 11/02/2009

Carolyn C.
Dunmore, Pennsylvania
cchupko137@comcast.net

More Information on Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome (PTLS)

It has been only two weeks since my tubal reversal, but I no longer have night sweats. I feel so good and my mood is happy. It is almost as if I had a menopause reversal! I know that sounds funny because I’m only thirty two years old.

This tubal reversal has really changed my life and I’m not even pregnant yet!

Frances D.
Date of Tubal Reversal Surgery July 23rd, 2009
JonathanVeronic@yahoo.com

More Information on Changed My Life

Prior to the tubal reversal I was suffering from PTLS symptoms. We scheduled the surgery in hopes of relieving my symptoms. I’ve had my first period since surgery and it was already back to normal. Prior to my reversal I would go through 15 pads just in the first two days of my period and bleeding very heavily, and now it was down to about 3-5 pads for about 4 days. My cramps aren’t as bad either. I think it is a great sign that my other symptoms will get better as well. I will feel “Whole” again. Thank you, Dr. Berger, for giving me my health back! I feel like myself again.

Date of tubal reversal surgery: 06/15/09

Carolyn C.
Dunmore, Pennsylvania
cchupko@aol.com

More Information on PTLS Symptoms

Dr. Berger, My husband and I loved your facility and everyone was so friendly. After my tubal ligation I had migraines everyday. It has been 3 weeks since my tubal reversal surgery, and I haven’t had a single headache.

Date of Tubal Reversal June 2009

Jenan H.
jeheal1@yahoo.com

More Information on Tubal Ligation Migraines

Dear Dr. Berger,

In April 2008 I came to you for a tubal ligation reversal. I didn’t come to you like most women do for a second chance at having a baby; I came to you because after my fourth child was born on February 16, 2001 I made the decision to have a tubal ligation. It wasn’t long after my tubal ligation that I started to feel changes within my body. My health and body slowly deteriorated. As the years passed I became more symptomatic and was diagnosed with more and more medical problems, it was as if my body had aged twenty years over only seven.

In my mind I knew that my problems were due to the tubal ligation because they all started as soon as I had it done. Getting doctors to support this theory was the biggest challenge I have ever had to over come. I saw countless doctors in several states who I tried to discuss the issue with and was always turned away with another brush off or excuse because they really didn’t know enough about the subject and there wasn’t hard written proof in medical journals yet. I saw all kinds of doctors; primary care physicians, endocrinologists, nephrologists, emergency physicians and the worst one were a number of different OB-GYN doctors. If anyone would understand the problems caused by a tubal ligation I thought for sure it would be someone who specialized in the woman’s body. Each one of these doctors gave me separate excuses for my symptoms. Within the seven years I had my tubal ligation and saw these doctors I was told I had an auto immune disease, diabetes, new onset migraine headaches, ovarian cysts, cervical cancer, anxiety, depression and my periods were so heavy and painful I would have be treated in the emergency room. My worse symptom was the depression and mood swings. I would do impulsive things that were completely out of my character. I would become so depressed that I would avoid social events, think about hurting myself or others and cry uncontrollably for days. I ruined many circumstances and relationships in my life because of these mood swings and rages. Although I had my tubal ligation to permanently avoid pregnancy I also had to take the birth control pill in order to control my periods and heavy bleeding. Even though I attributed all my problems to the tubal ligation not one of these doctors supported my feelings and they all told me that it was “in my head” and that if anything it was because “I wasn’t getting any younger.” I was ready to give up on myself and deal with the suffering. Every doctor I saw only did everything in their power to convince me that tubal ligations did not cause the problems I was having. I was told that cutting and tying off tubes does not block any necessary hormones. I disagreed and was living proof that it did, but who was I?

After several more years of suffering and having another abnormal pap smear I decided to try one more new OB-GYN doctor at Baptist Medical center in Jacksonville Florida, Dr. Richard Myers. I expected the appointment to last five minutes and to see Dr. Myers run for the door as soon as he heard me say I think my problems were due to the tubal ligation. I was in complete shock when just the opposite happened. He pulled up a chair, sat in front of me, put his hand on my shoulder and listened to every word I had to say with genuine concern. I was even more shocked when by the end of my appointment he agreed with me and supported my desire for a tubal ligation reversal and at that point he highly recommended you.

I spent the next several months researching PTLS (Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome), tubal ligation reversals and tubal ligation reversal doctors. I took into consideration less expensive tubal reversal centers or ones that were closer to where I lived but after all that research and talking to you and your office staff I knew I’d be right at home with Chapel Hill Tubal reversal Center. I finally saved up the money and made my surgical appointment. You and Dr. Myers worked hand in hand from across the miles to prepare me for the surgery and then it was finally my time to come see you.

When I came to my preoperative visit with you the day before my surgery I thought for sure during my interview in your office that you were going to judge me too because I was there for you to fix symptoms that years worth of doctors wrote off as being “imaginary” rather than what most women came to you for. It’s a beautiful thing that you give families the opportunity to have more children but I just wanted my own life and body back to what I knew as healthy and normal. My biggest fear was that you wouldn’t put as much care and effort into my surgery because I wasn’t there to have another baby. Just like Dr. Myers did, you also surprised me. We sat in your comfortable office, you were compassionate and you took all the time I needed to tell you why I was there and why I decided to go forward with surgery. You also were genuinely interested and instead of being less interested because I wasn’t there to have a baby I felt you were even more determined to make me feel better and cure me of all the problems that had occurred over the years I had my tubal ligation. You were ready and eager for the challenge and I finally felt some relief knowing that there was actually some light at the end of the tunnel. Your support and confidence had me leaving your office knowing that if things were going to change for me and if I was going to get better it was now and at your hands.

The next morning I was your first case because of my latex allergy. Your nurses and anesthesiologist, all of whom took wonderful care of me, received me. I was prepped for surgery and walked to the operating room. The last preoperative memory I have is going into the operating room and a nurse putting her arm around me with a very warm blanket and walking me to the table also covered in blankets from the warmer. The surgery didn’t seem to take long at all and before I knew it I was in the recovery room. The postoperative period was the one that scared me the most because I have had so many problems with anesthesia in the past. Again, I was pleasantly surprised because I was having no side affects and very little discomfort. I myself work in the medical field and I was impressed with the skill and care your nurses took at controlling pain. Within a few hours my responsible adult took me to the hotel where I slept for a few hours. By that evening I was out having dinner and even did a little shopping. The next morning your nurse came to my hotel room, checked my surgical site and vital signs and discharged me. After that last check I headed back home to Florida.

A year has now passed and my world has completely changed. The improvements were slow but steady and the changes my body has experienced are amazing. I feel like time has been rewound and I’ve gained the years I lost while suffering. My metabolism feels renewed. I spend at least two hours every morning running, riding a mountain bike or cardio and weights at the gym. I have lost a lot of weight and my body has been completely transformed. I am more fit and healthier than I ever remember being. I have had no more symptoms of the autoimmune disease, diabetes or migraine headaches. The biggest improvement and the one I am most grateful for is that my uncontrollable mood swings and rages are gone. Not everyone around me knows that I had this surgery so it’s funny when friends and acquaintances comment on the positive change in my character and personality. I have heard from so many people that I am much more patient, calm and approachable. My husband has his wife back and my kids have their mother. I no longer feel like I want to isolate myself from people, in fact now I am always the one inviting people to my home and volunteering to host parties. I have been able to stop taking medications for all my symptoms and now I only take a daily vitamin each morning before my workout. I only wish that all the doctors that turned me away telling me that I was crazy could see me now. Anyone suffering from PTLS should not give up on being cured and suffer because of the ignorance of people and physicians who don’t want to see that this syndrome is real and it is ruining the quality of life for women everywhere. I wish everyone woman out there experiencing the same things I went through could know that in about an hour and with your bare hands your reversed and stopped all of my symptoms.

I completely appreciate that you give families the opportunity to add a new and precious life to their families but I appreciate even more that you gave me my life back. My family and friends will be grateful to you forever. I am enjoying my new life and I hope that anyone out there experiencing the affects of PTLS will get the same help from you and take their lives back, for their sake and for that of their families.

Sincerely,

Savannah
beccabell07@gmail.com

More Information on PTLS (Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome)

Dr. Berger did a tubal reversal on me in 04/08. My original point to having the surgery was to get rid of the horrible symptoms of Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome. I have no more painful clot forming periods, no more migraine headaches, I have been exercising and working out as if my metabolism has been restored. I have lost a lot of weight and am healthier than I’ve ever been. I have had almost no more diabetic symptoms and am completely off the medications. The biggest relief and the one that affected me and everyone around me the most was my uncontrollable mood swings and rages. I used to have rages of anger and depression that put me and those around me in danger and now that is completely gone.

I have no more mood swings and I am now a lot more relaxed and laid back. I have even had people comment to me that the difference in my personality is so much different and for the better. I no longer have to take antidepressants or Ativan to control anger and sadness.

Savannah
beccabell07@gmail.com

More Information on Relief From Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome

Dr. Berger,

This is certainly an email long overdue to you, but we were talking about you this weekend. You operated on my wife Wendy this summer. We already have 3 healthy boys, so the main reason we had the reversal was because of how my wife was feeling ~ it was terrible! I am sure you can see everything she was having problems with in her file.

So a long story short she is feeling great now and running 6 miles a day again! All of this is really due to your tremendous talent as a tubal surgeon and we do really appreciate it. She is going to walk in the Chicago Avon Walk in June to help others, even though we are not affected. Just her way of helping some of our friends and give back as much as she can.

Please feel free to pass my name along to anyone that is thinking of going through the procedure as I would be happy to share my experience. My only regret is we did not do it earlier!

Walter G.
wgallwas@attaincapital.com

More Information on Tubal Surgeon

As I sit and reflect on 2008, I realize that at this time last year I was nervously preparing for my TR at Chapel Hill that was scheduled for 1/25. I had so many questions and fears about what would happen both during surgery and after.

Deep in my heart I knew it was the right thing to do for us after 2 unsuccessful rounds of IVF — I just couldn’t do that again. It was going to happen the natural way or not at all, and the “not at all” scared me!

After 4 months of ovulation monitoring, I left for a 10 day trip, only to come back with a BFN report for my DH. I gave up on the monitoring for June. I was too frustrated, busy, and trying to recover from my trip. My DH and I were arguing all the time, showing the signs of our mutual frustration.

On 6/25, I realized I was past the date that I was suppose to get my period but I really chalked it up to stress. I had 1 more PG test left and thought…well, I might as well use it up and be done with it…THAT’S the day I got my BFP! My DH and I had had such a big argument the night before that I hardly felt like bounding into the bedroom in joy and excitement, so I left the test in the bathroom for him to discover when he went to take his shower.

Well, the rest is history as I sit here 32 weeks PG and expecting on 2/20/09. The rest of the year has been filled with many emotional ups and downs, but the fact that our dreams of a child is close to being realized is the best gift from God of all!

I know we are all in different places of our journey. I just wanted to share with everyone my miracle for 2008 that would NOT have happened without Dr. Berger’s faithful commitment to reversing, through surgery, a selfish decision I made 12 years ago! I’m convinced that his dedication to excellence, along with the staff that aids him, is the reason for the high success rate that his practice at Chapel Hill stands on.

Again Dr. Berger, THANK YOU!!! We are thrilled to be where we are at now and can’t thank you enough for
how you and your staff treated us while we were there! You’ll certainly be one of the first people we update once baby arrives! 7 weeks to go!

Happy New Year!

Tia S.
tivo@tamos.net

More Information on TR

Posted by Eric’sGirl on the Tubal Reversal Message Board

This THANK YOU!  is long overdue. I had my TR one week ago! I have started and restarted this 100 times over in the past 7 days. I can’t find the words to say what I feel in my heart. The following is a mere fraction of the gratitude that Dr. Berger and all the wonderful nurses and staff at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center deserve.

I found Dr. Berger’s website in March 2004. Life had thrown one hell of a twist my way. My high school sweetheart and I were reunited. I may have loved other men in my life, but never the way had I loved him. And he was back – a second chance to correct bad life decisions we made 10 years earlier.

In those “lost” 10 years I had met and had kids with a man – a man that was my best friend and my worst enemy. He changed me. I lost some of the personality traits that made me “me” while I was with him. And along the way, I opted for a TL – and asked a doctor to “cut and burn” my tubes instead of the clips he was going to use. I knew if I came home with clips I would only hear over and over again how I did that so I could leave him and start a new family with someone else. His post operative notes didn’t make much sense! So the first time I sent them into Dr. Berger, he told me my post op notes were ambiguous. I was told I could have the pre-screen laparoscopy to determine the true effect of my TL.

So that is where it sat until I got married in October 2006 and decided to start pursuing a TR more aggressively. In January 2007 I had an ovarian cyst and a wonderful local Ob/Gyn. My doctor told me we could wait 8 weeks for the cyst to resolve itself and do a follow-up ultrasound. I said I didn’t want to wait 8 weeks and risk a rupture – that I was considering a TR. He removed the cyst and took pictures so I could send them to Dr. Berger.

Those pictures put me in “marginal” candidate status. I am a smart woman, I but never looked into the numerous ways a TL can be performed. That doctor – the one that was recommending clips because I was so young (27 yrs old) – went on to remove all but 3-5 cm of my tubes and cauterize them right up to my uterus wall. No two ends for anastomosis… and possibly not enough tube left for implantation.

In 2004, I had sent my report to two other doctors – wasn’t as impressed with them from the start, but this time I was doing due diligence in the research phase. Again, I contacted the two other facilities. One took over a week to respond… and the other, the nurse on the phone wasn’t versed enough to understand the “implantation” option… or maybe they just didn’t perform it… or maybe not that often – I don’t know. All I know is neither had the support network that Dr. Berger and his staff provided.

I once sent an email over the weekend because I had time to send it then and wasn’t expecting an answer until Monday. It by no means was anything pressing. Dr. Berger himself responded shortly after I sent it!!!! Oh my goodness,that pushed me over the edge. It was followed shortly by a response by the nurse that was copied on it!

I have now been to Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. I don’t know how they do it! Four consults and four surgeries each day, and somehow there is ALWAYS a prompt reply to every phone call and email. And the message board full of ladies who are saving to schedule, waiting for their day, or on the other side. You couldn’t ask for a better support system!

On Wednesday, October 17th I walked into CHTRC for my consult. What an amazing place to be! Nothing but professionalism from the second you walk in… until you walk back out. I hire people for our service company. I can’t believe the caliber of the staff Dr. Berger has assembled! It is not an easy feat to find that many people who put their heart and soul into their work and the cause!

On Wednesday, October 17th I met with Dr. Berger. I don’t know if I have ever been in the presence of such a gifted and caring individual. And I don’t know if I have ever been so shaken. He accepted me at my “marginal” candidacy – and I came face to face with that reality. I signed a surgical consent form that needed to be so vague – “bilateral tuboplasty” (plastic surgery of my tubes!) it read. I didn’t fit into either “standard” (anastomosis or implantation) procedure. I walked into that room knowing that there was no other person on this planet that could put me together. And with complete professionalism, he walked me through every reality and every possibility. I watched as he drew out what he MAY be able to do. I left struggling to hold onto the faith I had – IN HIM! I wanted a miracle out of him – how unfair of an expectation was that?!?! In fact, I even told him to write, “Dr. Berger is going to pull of a miracle tomorrow” on my surgical consent form – instead of “bilateral tuboplasty.”

My husband wasn’t there that day. He was in Cincinnati for work – flying in that night to be there for the surgery the next day. But I wasn’t alone. Dr. Berger’s network extends past the doors of CHTRC. Online I had my girls pulling for me from all over the world! And back at the hotel, I had Donna and her husband Bob. Donna was on my thread and had surgery the day of my consult. We hung out after her surgery and my consult, clear through my husband arriving at 9 o’clock that night. They kept my chin up. Without them I would have sat in my hotel room – crying until my husband got there. It was ALL OR NOTHING the next day.

So with my hopes and dream of babies with my high school sweetheart on the line, I walked back into CHTRC on Thursday, October 18th. I have never been so scared of an “answer,” and surgery never seemed so – well… refined and simple. There were no worries… they took such good care of you and kept you so comfortable! I almost forgot there was a chance this wouldn’t go well!

I remember telling me they were starting the anesthesia. I remember trying to wake up and ask the nurses what he did. I wasn’t the typical case. Dr. Berger had told them he wanted to explain things to me, so they weren’t able to say much. I remember someone telling me, “thumbs up!” I remember someone saying, “It’s good news!” I wasn’t catching their hints. Half loopy – and fully determined to get the answers I wanted. I guess I worried my recovery nurses. My husband later told me they came to get him and told him they had upset me.

Dr. Berger PULLED OFF A MIRACLE THAT DAY! He found my original passage through my uterine wall. He connected the minimal tube my TL doctor left behind. Dr. Berger sat in front of me and told me I had 4.0 cm on the right and 3.0 cm on the left. OH MY GOSH!!!! I wasn’t supposed to have much more than that in there!

And here is where I can’t explain what I feel inside… gratitude… hope… faith… yes! But they don’t come close to describing what it feels like to be whole again. What it feels like to be with my husband. What it feels like to make love and know I may be able to make a baby…. The old fashion way.

I don’t know how to say “thank you” for all that! I believe in always giving of yourself what you can give… you may never know when you will need to ask someone for something. I have never done something so great in my life for anyone – I don’t know how to pay this forward – I spin every time I try to fully grasp the impact he has had on our life.

Never have I been so amazed by anyone! I don’t know what made Dr. Berger dedicate himself to women and to families. He gives us so much – and there is nothing we give him! Or so I feel.

I have been on the boards long enough to know my same story is replayed time and time again by women who find Dr. Berger. What a gift he gives us by providing us the opportunity to undo our past!

I am sorry this is so long…

Dr. Berger, Sarah, Jan, Ericka, Jennifer, Julia, Rhonda, Pam, and Dr. Phlugrath – I remember each of you from that day or previous correspondences… and I know there were other surgical nurses and recovery nurses I was too hazy to acknowledge… please don’t feel I thank you any less!

THANK YOU! Thank you for caring so much…. Thank you for being the amazing people you are… Thank you for what you have given me… us… and our family!

May all your lives be as blessed as those you help!

Chrissy 34
Eric 35
TR 10-18-07
cconwell@charter.net

Read More About Dr. Berger | Miracles

Dr. Berger,

I could sing your praises forever and, in fact, I have referred many people to you including perfect strangers who have stopped to remark on how precious our little D’Angelo is. I know all tubal reversal stories are different, and ours is also a most unique story. My husband and I have been together for sixteen years and had our first three kids in our mid-twenties. We always wanted more but after having to take custody of my husband’s siblings, we made the huge mistake of getting my tubes tied, a choice we thought was permanent.  I mourned the loss of the children we never had. As the kids all grew older and as we approached our mid-thirties, we began to talk about the “what-ifs” and after a short time on the internet researching PTLS, found your website.

This has been the most miraculous experience and we know that God led us directly to your care. Our first three kids are now thirteen, eleven, and nine. To be able to share this with our children is an experience beyond words. They were all in the delivery room with us, my daughters holding my legs and actively coaching, and my son being able to cut his new brother’s umbilical cord. A choir of tearful joy enveloped D’Angelo as he entered this world.

Our family is better and stronger for this, and we are all anxious to meet and be blessed with another baby come July.

Donna S.
mr.andmrs.sparrow@gmail.com

More Information on Tubes Tied

This will be our second child since our tubal reversal, and our fifth total. We feel truly blessed to have welcomed our son, D’Angelo, in September 2007. We are very excited that he will soon be a big brother!

Without your steady hands, Dr. Berger, and God’s blessing, we wouldn’t even have this news to share. Thanks for everything. We are putting together a scrapbook to send to your office, but it obviously won’t be complete until next year.

I also wanted you to know that as early as my first menstrual cycle post-surgery, my PTLS had disappeared completely.

Donna S.
mr.andmrs.sparrow@gmail.com

More Information on Second Child Since Tubal Reversal