It has taken me a long time to publish this blog for no good reason other than procrastination.
Brandy and Maurice both agreed to share their story in March of 2010 and I have had this story in draft for three years after their surgery. This story is illustrative of how successful tubal reversal can be for many couples because since that time they have had surgery, become pregnant, and now have a healthy, beautiful baby girl who is at least 2 years old!
Brandy and Maurice are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (WI) and together they traveled to A Personal Choice in hopes of having fertility restored after tubal ligation reversal.
Brandy and Maurice share a very special experience and I asked them if they would share their story with Tubal Reversal Blog readers and they readily agreed.
Is Pregnancy Possible After Burned Tubes?
Brandy is 33 years old and has four children from a previous marriage. She had her tubes burned (tubal coagulation) after the birth of her fourth child. She is currently in school and learning pharmacy but her real aspiration is to eventually change careers and become a radiologist.
She met Maurice while at Fort Sill Oklahoma during a MySpace chat. Maurice was in the army for six years, but, because of multiple deployments to Korea, he decided not to re-up and he is now in school to become a paralegal. They are now married and have been together for over three years (now 6 years since it has taken me long to publish this story).
Tubal Reversal And True Love
Brandy demonstrated an immeasurable act of love for Maurice.
Maurice’s mother was suffering from chronic kidney disease, on dialysis, and awaiting a kidney transplant. Brandy had been with Maurice for one and a half years when she decided she would try to help Maurice’s mother. She decided to donate one of her kidneys to Maurice’s mother. Brandy tested as an exact match for his mother, and, in an act of true love, Brandy underwent a major transplant operation and donated her kidney to Maurice’s mother.
Unfortunately, the mother rejected the transplanted kidney. She went back on dialysis and had to wait for another kidney transplant.
IVF and Tubal Ligation Reversal
Brandy and Maurice wanted a child together. Since she had donated her kidney to Maurice’s mother Brandy was under the care of a nephrologist (kidney doctor). After the transplant, Brandy asked them if it was possible she could become pregnant with one remaining kidney and have a successful pregnancy.
Her nephrologist was very supportive and advised Brandy pregnancy was very possible with one kidney, but she would need to see a high risk ob gyn during the pregnancy. Brandy began researching her options: in vitro fertilization and tubal ligation reversal.
She decided tubal reversal would be the better choice for her. She chose to come to our reversal center for a one hour tubal reversal surgery.
Reversing Burned Tubes: Successful Outpatient Surgery
I met Brandy and Maurice before her reversal surgery. I was immediately impressed by the tremendous act of human love Brandy had demonstrated by giving her kidney to Maurice’s mother. I was also impressed Brandy had done a fair amount of research to investigate the risks of pregnancy in patients with one kidney.
Brandy was able to successfully undergo outpatient tubal reversal at our center. Her surgery was approximately 60 minutes long. Her fallopian tube lengths were 6 cm for both tubes. The estimated blood loss was 35 milliliters (6 teaspoons). Brandy did well in the recovery room- she was sleepy but not in pain.
She was discharged to the local hotel and was accompanied by Maurice on the hotel shuttle. The day after her outpatient tubal reversal she was seen by a member of our staff and rated her pain at a level 1 on a 10 point scales (0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain). She and Maurice returned to Wisconsin.
Burned Tube Reversal
Brandy’s surgery was a success. Her tubes were healthy and successful repaired. I had asked Brandy to email me a picture of her and Maurice in their home state and below is the email she sent me:
“This is a pic that we would really like you to have. I also wanted to thank you for the wonderful experience. When we got married we didn’t have the chance for a honeymoon because it was shortly after I donated my kidney and his mother already started rejecting it and we were back at the hospital with her everyday. This was not only a chance of a new beginning with a baby but we had the opportunity to celebrate or marriage finally. Thank you again for everything. Pray for us!”
IVF or Tubal Reversal: Concerns With A Single Kidney
Brandy’s medical history is illustrative of how patients with serious medical problems will need to carefully compare the risks of IVF and the risks of tubal reversal.
Pregnancy can also have risk on women with medical conditions and part two of this article will discuss the considerations patients with kidney problems have with infertility treatments and pregnancy.
Part two of this story is: An Unspeakable Act Of Love: Tubal Reversal Pregnancy After Donating Kindey.
Submitted by Dr. Charles Monteith