Tammy Martin

Ohio

March  2003

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Tubal reversal  Mar 27, 2003

Update - Dec 2003

HSG on December 5th - my tubes are wide open, and my RE complimented Dr. Perez's work. He said I couldn't have gotten a better result from his own office. Tammy M

March 2003

Here is my testimony:

Tracy (my best friend and I ) left Ohio on the 22nd of March for a vacation on the way to Rio Bravo. We drove to Missouri from Ohio that night, and camped in a cabin at a KOA there. The cabin was right by the lake, and there were a million stars shining down on us during our quest for the perfect marshmallow... The 23rd, we drove to Dodge City, Kansas where we met up with a little boy and his family who had shared a lot of my daughter's hospital time - the little one has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and despite the doctors warnings, has just passed his 6th birthday. They told his mother to abort him because he would never survive his own birth! This miracle helped us have stronger faith for the Rio Bravo section of our trip. Even a lovely storm at the campground in Choke Canyon Texas couldn't discourage us- but it did break our tent!

The next few days we camped and enjoyed the Texas landscape- and let me tell you, the guy that does that song about how God Blessed Texas, must have camped on Mustang Island. We found a place to camp directly on the beach- and got a nice sunburn...lol.

We arrived at the hospital about 5pm on the 27th, and Levy greeted us at the door - he had a laugh at my expense, because I hadn't seen his picture, and asked him if he spoke English... he has a gentle teasing sense of humor, and made things very easy for us. My little bit of Spanish seemed to help quite a bit- the nurses were very appreciative for every word I could remember. They took me into a really beautiful room, which had a little room between the bed and the bathroom with a little sofa and two chairs, and a nice bathroom. Everything was older, but clean and well cared for. It looked very homelike, and I felt very comfortable there.

From there, the nurse came in and got my IV in on the first try- Isabel is wonderful! They gave me some medicine to help keep me from getting sick, and let me know I was going into surgery on Thursday night. We weren't able to get hold of my husband, but it was okay. Levi asked me to let everyone know that American calling cards don't work there at the hospital- they were able to make 800 number phone calls for us though.

Into surgery we went- Dr. Moreno was very friendly also, and playful like Levi. He got my epidural in relatively quickly, and my weight didn't seem to be a problem. They let Tracy come in with me too. They let her stand on a stool behind Levi and watch everything. She said my tubes are pink, and Dr Perez said they looked very healthy, and said I have 7-8 on the left, and 5-6 on the right side. Dr. Perez was warm and gentle and much quieter than the other two men. He was very kind to us. I felt bad- I had to bug Levi in the middle of the night to come and take out the Foley because I hadn't asked for more medicine in the epidural and it was really bothering me. But I was able to get up and walk within a few hours and go to the bathroom. They did diagnose a bladder infection while I was there, and they sent me home on antibiotics and it has since cleared up.

I have never experienced that level of care in an American hospital- and I hope that the way they do things in Rio Bravo will always be the standard of care I hold myself to as a nurse and later, midwife.

The most painful moment of the whole experience was when Dr. Perez pulled the tape from my epidural off of my sunburned back! I am doing well, a little sore and tired after the long drive back that included two flat tires but I feel really blessed that everything was so wonderful.

Meeting Vesna was a real highlight of my trip - we really hit it off! Sending all my love and prayers to all of you- I am going to go lie down like Levi told me to.

Love

Tammy Martin

Doc Perez and Tammy