Susan is an international patient who traveled to A Personal Choice from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for both tubal ligation reversal and ovarian conserving surgery. The day before her reversal surgery Susan and her partner, Stephen, sat with Dr. Monteith for a pre-operative interview. They have a unique story and we asked if they would allow us to share their story with our Tubal Reversal Blog readers.
Love Displaced
Susan and Stephen are both from the United Kingdom. They first meet when they were twelve years old. They dated several times as teenagers, but, in their early twenties, life carried them in different directions. They married other people, had children, and, eventually, both became divorced.
During her marriage, Susan raised two children. She returned to work, as a personal administrative assistant, when her children entered high school. Stephen became an owner of an international firm establishing telecommunications infrastructure in the Middle East. His company creates communication networks in Pakistan and the war torn areas of Iraq and Afghanistan, Africa, and Nigeria.
Stephen lives in Dubai and is a frequent international traveler. On a business trip to England, he reunited with Susan. Their love restarted right where they had stopped. Realizing they belonged together, Susan moved from England to the United Arab Emirates. When I asked Susan what was her current occupation, she responded in a sweet British accent, “I am fortunate enough to live the life of a lady of leisure, whilst taking good care of Stephen of course!”
Tubal Reversal Decision
Since their lives had taken different paths, Susan felt she and Stephen had missed the opportunity to have children together. More and more, she wondered if anything could be done to reverse her sterilization. Even the remotest chance of conceiving was worth exploring; the rest would be in God’s hands.
Susan began researching pregnancy and sterilization reversal. She Googled ‘tubal ligation reversal’ and immediately found A Personal Choice. She began informing herself about the reversal procedure and decided she would pursue reversal surgery.
After her decision, she was so excited she could not sleep. The next morning, Stephen noticed a change in Susan. He asked why was she so excited? She then began to share her discovery of a tubal reversal procedure and the possibility of having a child naturally together.
Susan and Stephen decided they would forgo having a tubal reversal in the UAE or England and, instead, would travel to the United States for reversal surgery.
Susan contacted me and we began a series of international emails regarding tubal ligation reversal surgery. Susan informed me she had a pre-existing dermoid ovarian cyst, which was discovered by her doctor in the UAE. Since the majority of gynecologists do not perform tubal reversal surgery, I informed Susan it would a easier for her to allow us to perform both a tubal reversal procedure and an ovarian cyst removal rather than her undergoing two separate procedures by different doctors.
Within several weeks of making her decision to have her tubes untied, Susan and Stephen were on a plane to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Pre-operative Discussion
I meet Susan and Stephen the day prior to her surgery. We reviewed her medical history and discussed the limitations, risk, and benefits of tubal reversal surgery. Specifically, we addressed the possibility of not being able to repair one or both tubes. A critical aspect to Susan’s reversal was previous surgery, which left her with only one remaining ovary, which was now mostly replaced with a dermoid cyst. If this ovary were compromised, then Susan would never be able to conceive and have a child genetically her own. It was critical her surgery be precise and correct.
Susan’s Tubal Reversal Surgery
Susan’s surgery went well. She had a mini-laparotomy incision. Significant surgical findings were a large dermoid ovarian cyst and a normal appearing left tube with evidence of tubal band sterilization. The right tube was densely covered in scar tissue and intestinal adhesions from a previous surgery. The ovarian cyst was removed without difficulty and the left tube was repaired in a multi-layer closure. We 
again examined the right tube and felt for Susan’s health and safety a right tubal repair not be undertaken. The entire surgery was slightly longer, due to the ovarian cyst removal, than our standard tubal reversal surgery, but lasted only one hour and thirty-eight minutes.
I meet her and Stephen after her surgery in the recovery room. I explained to them the success of the operation and our inability to repair her right tube because of dense scarring.
Susan was then discharged to the hotel and we saw her the next day. She was recovering well with minimal pain. Two days after her surgery, Susan was on a plane to return to the Middle East.
Susan’s Comments
From our first visit to the Chapel Hill Center, Stephen and I were extremely impressed by the professionalism of all the staff encountered and the facility as a whole.
The day before surgery we arrived at the center to have a consultation meeting with Dr Monteith to review my notes and go through the additional procedure of removing a dermoid cyst and any pitfalls that may ensue i.e. failure to save the ovary which without would mean the whole procedure would be fruitless. We then met with the anesthesiology team and had further pre-op checks.
We arrived at the center at 7 am the next morning full of a mixture of nerves and excitement of what was to happen. Again the staff was brilliant and allayed any fears by explaining each step. Before I knew it I was coming round from the anesthetic with Dr Monteith informing us he had successfully removed 100% of the dermoid cyst and the tubal repair had gone extremely well. It was like I was dreaming, music to my ears. Shortly after, I was getting dressed and on my way back to our hotel to recuperate.
The morning after a nurse came out to our hotel to check on my incision and take my vitals, everything was fine. The second day after surgery Stephen and I did a little Christmas shopping before heading off to the airport to start out journey home to Dubai.
I was amazed at how little pain and discomfort I experienced immediately after surgery compared to how I had felt after previous abdominal surgical procedures I had undergone years before.
I am now back home in Dubai recovering well and looking forward to Christmas and whatever the New Year brings!!
I was somewhat amused at Dr Monteith’s description of myself as a ‘lady of leisure’. I did state this is my full time occupation in Dubai now, alongside taking good care of my man, still amuses me to see it written down. Word of advice to achieve this status if you so wish; be fortunate enough to be with your true love and hope that he works in a income tax-free country!! Most importantly to ensure you take good care of him in all aspects of his life. His description of me is that I am a beautiful person inside and out with an endless caring nature.
Submitted by Dr. Charles Monteith
