Tubal Reversal Doctors - How to Pick Yours
When you begin your search among all the tubal reversal doctors available, or at least say they will do a tubal ligation reversal, how do you choose? In the following paragraphs, we will list some of the questions you need to ask that will lead you to choose the best surgeon for you.
The first thing you want to know about is his knowledge of this type of surgery. What about his educational and training background? What schools did he or she attend? What training has he had? And who was he trained under? You have doctors who have done their medical school, internship training and normal residency and have never seen a tubal reversal done. Even doctors who specialized in reproductive endocrinology would be very lucky to see a tubal reversal during their training. Since most insurance doesn’t cover it, many hospitals don’t perform the surgery very often and this is where doctors do their residencies. So, has yours ever been trained in it? Has he even seen one done during his training?
Experience will be the next factor you will want to get information about from your list of potential tubal reversal doctors. Just ask outright how many of these type of surgeries has the doctor done in the last five years? Just choose a number of years so you can get an idea of just how often he does it. Do you want a doctor who performs hundreds of these a year and, therefore, has lots of experience with whatever might come up? This means he will really know what he is doing. Or do you want a doctor that has done less than ten in four years, if that many? Many doctors say they will do it but do they really have the experience that will make you comfortable choosing them?
You should also find out what method the doctor uses to do the surgery, especially if he does them seldom and hasn’t kept up with the latest. Does he use a stint to make sure your tubes are aligned and that there is no blockage? Or does he simply “stick” them together and hope for the best? If using a dye test after the job is done and it shows a blockage, what is your recourse? Just live with it? Will the doctor do a very invasive surgery by cutting you open and using clamps to get muscles and else wise out of the way thus creating a much more intensive and lengthy recovery time? Or does he do the surgery in the least invasive manner possible?
How well does the doctor and his staff communicate with you? Do they answer your concerns and questions or do they brush you off? How do they make you feel when you talk to them? Most women have had instances where they believe the doctor does not listen to or respect them simply because they are women. Does this doctor make you feel that way? Are he and his staff readily available to answer your questions even seven days a week? How do you get in touch with his previous patients to discuss what they like and don’t like about the doctor and the procedure? Does he even provide a way for you to do so? What type of follow up communications can you have with this list of tubal reversal doctors?
Another factor to consider, which for many women will be the first factor to consider, is the cost of the operation. Just how much will that do-it-once-a-year surgeon cost you? $20,000? $10,000? I wonder. Is he trying to make up for doing so few with that price? In this case, you may just find that the best surgeon is not the one who will cost you the most. In fact, he may even be one of the least costly out there.
Does your doctor keep statistics that prove how well he does his job? Does he let you know what your chances are given your tube length, age, and type of tubal ligation done? Do you know his tubal reversal success rates? Do you know the rates of pregnancy after a tubal reversal from this doctor? Are these published and readily available to you? Does your doctor do follow-ups to collect information at six months and at one year intervals after your tubal reversal surgery?
The above factors will give you a good start to narrowing down that list of tubal reversal doctors. They will help you pick the one surgeon who will give you the best chance to achieve your purpose in having this procedure done. Sure, there are more things to consider including information about the surgical facility but these will give you a good start.