Kathy & Neal Hethorne

April  2003

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Tubal reversal  Apr 12, 2003

Well, I have so much to say. I had a wonderful experience with my reversal. We arrived in McAllen at 11 am and I proceeded to set up DH laptop so that he had the computer to work with while I was gone in Mexico. He stayed at the hotel with the kids while I went to Rio Bravo. We stayed at the Super 8 in Mc Allen, which has a Wal-Mart and several restaurants right next door. Our room was very clean and all have refrigerators and microwaves. There are coupons out there for $39 a night for a King, but since we took the kids we needed two beds and it was $44. Not bad at all.

I called Joe Galvan right at noon and he was there in 10 minutes. Ladies, let me tell you, this man is a true angel. ( I will expand on that in a few lines). He needed to wait for Keyla P to arrive at the airport, so we went out and waited for them so that we could all go together. After he returned from Mexico, he called my husband at the hotel to tell him that we had all arrived safely.

Dr. Perez had 2 surgeries planned for that evening, and they were going to do Keyla also. They were not sure if they would have time for me or not. I was just fine with that. Well, at 10 pm they came and got me for surgery. Dr. Perez looked so tired when I got to the surgery room. When they put the catheter in, they found out I had a horrid kidney infection. I really had not noticed anything out of the ordinary, except for a little back pain which I blamed on my other problems. Well, they proceeded with the surgery and found that I also had endometriosis and it was choking my kidney. They cleaned all of that up and did my reversal also. I can only tell you that the surgical pain is not half as bad as the pain I was in when I went down there! I got out of the surgery room at 12:30 am on the 12th and went back to my room.

Dr. Levy came in and we chatted for quite a while and said we would chat more about my surgery in the morning. He even took the time and fixed the blinds in the room so that I could look out. He truly goes the extra mile and cares so very much. My room had a window and a very friendly woodpecker that kept me company that night.

At 6 am Dr. Levy was right there smiling and told me about everything that went on. That my incision was quite large but they were able to do everything that needed to be done. We chatted about his wife and daughter and the fact that he actually is a Dr. and working another 18 months to complete his residency - and will then have another 2 years for his OB/GYN residency. He filled me in on Mexico and where to go on vacation. We had a lot of fun. He is a gem.

The nurses were great and the only challenge I had was that I could not remember the word for "pain". I had a coughing fit and started to hurt and the nurse kept telling me my medication was 8 hours apart. About 2 hours later she brought my meds and told me one was the antibiotic and the other was for hurting. Gee....now that was a word I could remember darn it. Oh well, that was fine.

Dr. Levy released us about 6 pm to go home the day after surgery, so I was only there 18 hours after my surgery. Everyone wanted to go shopping for a bit so we drove down and picked up some things for the boys and my husband and went to the hotel.

Ok, this is where Joe really shined. He would not let me lift a bag or open a door. He showed where to go to shop and we found some great deals. He made sure all of our paperwork was filled out correctly. He had called my husband (volunteered) and made sure everyone was ok at the hospital and on the way to and from. He waited at the hospital until everyone was ready (he was there are 4 pm as to not be late). He even postponed a family reunion dinner in order to take us shopping. Again, he volunteered. He even brought the paper so I could be updated on the war efforts. He cared about my every need and just seemed to be there every time something was needed. He is far more than a cab driver. He is a true angel in a Yellow Van.

We arrived back at the hotel around 9 pm and my husband looked so relived. I can't say the kiddos really missed me, they had a swimming pool and jaccuzzi. We walked over to Walmart and picked up some things and walked back to the hotel. I went to sleep at 10 pm last night and was wide awake at 3:30. At 4 am we decided to wake the boys and get ready to go. We left the hotel at 5 am, and stopped down the road for breakfast. We arrived home right about noon. And I sat down to write this note.

It was a great experience and I would do it again in a heart wink. I felt so very safe there in Mexico. Levy was always there, and the nurses were always available. They tried so hard to make sure every need was met. And even the house keepers who also served my meals were always trying to make sure that I had everything that I needed at hand. I wish I could explain the "comfort" that I felt with this whole experience. My prayers were answered and I am so very thankful.

I feel wonderful!

Kathy H