In this post, I talked about one of the elective surgery, I underwent three years ago. I have been contemplating for years if I should share with you my experience or not. But since it is my duty as a nurse-mom to do health teaching, might as well.
During all my pregnancies, I was hypertensive or pre-eclamptic. Apparently, it runs in our genes, something can be controlled but cannot get away from it. So when I gave birth to my youngest which is now almost four years old, we decided that it was best to get a bilateral tubal ligation. I know this was against my belief being a Catholic, but, I cannot risk my health anymore. I would like to see and take care of my children until they grow up so we decided to forgo the procedure.
What is Tubal Ligation? How does a tubal ligation process happen? It is a surgical procedure for sterilization in which a woman's Fallopian tubes are clamped or blocked and sealed, either of which prevents eggs from reaching the uterus for implantation. Tubal ligation is considered a permanent method of sterilization and birth control.
There are few considerations a woman can get a ligation. Which are the following:
- A woman should be in her 30's
- Should have at least a boy and a girl
- Eldest child should be at least 7 years old
But then again, these are a case-to-case basis and something that should be discussed with your husband and your OB-Gyne. This procedure has several techniques which involve clipping, tying of tubes, but what was done to me was Bilateral Tubal Ligation--meaning, both of my tubes were already cut.
The procedure was done during my last cesarean section so the recovery this time was quite different from two of my cesarean procedures. I wasn't really aware of how I would feel because the ones I read from the blogs across Google was the total opposite of what I really felt. According to them it was painless and done vaginally. Since both of my tubes were cut, the pain on both sides was an additional pain to my incision site. Every time my uterus contracts (I was on an IV Drip with Methergine), both right and left quadrants of my abdomen were extremely painful. The pain was like there was an ice pick puncturing through my sides, it was a pain scale of 9/10. The pain was only relieved by taking oral pain killers which don't even last up to 3 hours. Upon discharge, I continuously took oral pain killers every eight hours. A year after, there was occasional pain in both of my sides, especially when it is cold.
So far there are two misconceptions as to the possible effect of tubal ligation. One is in terms of intimacy. Some would say, women tend to get dry or lose interest in the matter. But the truth is, nothing has changed except for the fact I am not capable of procreation anymore. The second is if ligated women still experience a monthly period. There is still a monthly period. The only thing that is disrupted from the system is the travel of the egg to the Fallopian tubes to the uterus. So ligated women will still experience a monthly period.
Again, not all can have female sterilization here in the Philippines. There are indications to consider which is why you need to talk to your OB-Gyne about this.
Are you into contraceptives? Share your thoughts below in the comment section.
Comments
Post a Comment