Sterilization operation is viewed differently by different people. The government looks upon it as a program to be carried out like many others. Patients look at it as a means to stop having more babies. Motivators look at it as a means to earn money in the form of motivator's incentive. Surgeons look at it with dread, because anything going wrong with the health of the patient after the procedure is the trigger for semi-criminal investigations by the health department. It is rumored that some officials of the inquiry committees look at this as a means to harass people and/or prove their superiority over the criminals ... er ... doctors who performed that operation. I personally feel that the last one is not true, but I had to put down that viewpoint for completeness.
This story shows a totally different way one doctor looked at this operation.
"That patient had come for reversal of tubal sterilization operation" the storyteller said. "In those days, there was no laparoscope to look at the tubes before opening the patient's abdomen. So this patient's abdomen was opened. It was horrible."
"What?" I asked.
"The person who had performed the sterilization operation had applied three silastic bands to each fallopian tube, like beads on a string."
"My God" I said, "then reversal must have been impossible."
"Yes. The operation had to be abandoned. Poor woman! That doctor must have been practicing on that patient."
"Either that, or he/she must have performed the operation with a vengeance, such that the woman would never be able to get pregnant again."
For those of my readers who do not know what this all is about, I will explain in brief. There are two fallopian tubes attached to the uterus. They have to be blocked to prevent future pregnancies. Many methods are available to do this. In any method, each tube is occluded by some technique at one place. It damages the tube. If a lot of tube is damaged, the operation cannot be reversed. The following photograph shows a silastic band applied to a tube properly (on left) and what the patient had done to her ( on right). As you can see, there is no tube left to speak of that can be used to reverse the operation.
This story shows a totally different way one doctor looked at this operation.
"That patient had come for reversal of tubal sterilization operation" the storyteller said. "In those days, there was no laparoscope to look at the tubes before opening the patient's abdomen. So this patient's abdomen was opened. It was horrible."
"What?" I asked.
"The person who had performed the sterilization operation had applied three silastic bands to each fallopian tube, like beads on a string."
"My God" I said, "then reversal must have been impossible."
"Yes. The operation had to be abandoned. Poor woman! That doctor must have been practicing on that patient."
"Either that, or he/she must have performed the operation with a vengeance, such that the woman would never be able to get pregnant again."
For those of my readers who do not know what this all is about, I will explain in brief. There are two fallopian tubes attached to the uterus. They have to be blocked to prevent future pregnancies. Many methods are available to do this. In any method, each tube is occluded by some technique at one place. It damages the tube. If a lot of tube is damaged, the operation cannot be reversed. The following photograph shows a silastic band applied to a tube properly (on left) and what the patient had done to her ( on right). As you can see, there is no tube left to speak of that can be used to reverse the operation.
