My bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai, Thailand, was surprisingly smoother thanks to the excellent care I received from my doctor and nurses.

Two hours before my bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai

The day before my bisalp, I spent an entire day of pre-op preparations in McCormick Hospital. I was still quite nervous about the surgery; I barely had any sleep. It was my first time to go under the knife, after all. Knowing Doctor Manatsawee checked in on a former patient before her tubal, I anticipated his visit almost the entire day. I was looking forward to meeting him and talking about the procedure more. If it’s not Friday night, he might visit me in the morning. Maybe he will wake me up…

… Instead, a nurse woke me at 6 in the morning.

Two nurses gave me another dreaded vaginal douching and enema. After my bowels purged every single excreta out of my body, one of the nurses handed me a green hospital gown. Using Google Translate, she told me to shower and wear nothing except the gown—nothing under the gown, not even socks. The nurses returned to attach an IV to my cannula and blow dry my hair. 

While wheeled to the Operating Room, the nurse went on her phone. She showed me her Google Translate and asked me the name of the pet cat doll I had brought with me to Thailand. 

Thirty minutes before the bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai

I was led to the pre-op room, where the operating nurse introduced herself, another nurse, and the anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist and I had a jolly conversation. He asked me why I was having a bilateral salpingectomy. He jokingly asked, “Don’t you want kids? You want to be alone?”

“YES!” I gleefully told him. He was taken aback. I was too happy and excited about the procedure to fight anyone. 

I’m a very solitary person. I love peace. That’s just how I am. 

I turned my head, and then I finally saw my surgeon, Doctor Manatsawee, for the first time since our last consultation in July.

“Hey! How are you?” he greeted me as he gently patted my tummy. My cheeks flushed red. 

I was too excited to remember the words that came from my mouth. I might as well be talking Elvish to my crush. The next thing I remembered was the anesthesiologist asking me if female sterilization is allowed in the Philippines as they wheeled me to the operating room. I told him, “Legally yes,” but getting one is almost impossible. He was shocked when I told him even women with two children cannot get approved for tubal quickly. 

This is it, pancit! I can’t believe it’s finally happening. The surgery I’ve been waiting for all these years. My freedom is now within reach. At 8:05 AM, I moved to the operating table, and the nurses removed my hospital gown sleeves. The nurses tucked my hospital gown sleeves under my armpit- now my gown is just merely covering my naked body- and attached those sticky pads on my chest. I felt the sleepy juice injected into my right hand. My excitement was high as the anesthesia began to lull me to sleep. An oxygen mask went above my face as I watched my surgeon’s back as he prepared his laparoscopic tools. I closed my eyes for a bit…

After the bisalp surgery

… only to find him still with his back turned once I opened them again. But it looked like he was writing something on the nurse’s table in the pre-op/recovery room. Then I felt a great pain in my tummy. My hands felt a large plaster on my tummy. Two more plasters are on the left of my belly button. My throat was sore, which I later learned was from the intubation tube. I just closed my eyes for 5 seconds. Did everything go well? I saw the nurse on my right and asked her how it went. “Yes, this is your fallopian tubes and your IUD!!” She said as she held a document with colored pictures of my deleted fallopian tubes and my IUD.

I saw the wall clock. It was already 10:30!

It was a resounding success!

I smiled happily despite the pain in my abdomen. The nurses wheeled me back to my room soon after. I found my boyfriend on the couch waiting for me. Nurses put a fresh blue hospital gown on me and thoughtfully placed my cat doll beside me before leaving. I felt weak and exhausted, as if I had run for hours. It was hard to get up, and I needed to adjust my hospital bed to sit up and eat. I had to ask my boyfriend for help fetching things for me. I was bedridden for the entire day. 

The bilateral salpingectomy didn’t affect my appetite, though. I gobbled my first meal after the bisalp—a Thai rice soup called Khao Tom—with a Vitamilk Vitaplus+ (also known as Vitamilk Energy in the Philippines). I never thought Vitamilk Energy would be the glorious taste of no children. My cheerful nurses came in to give me medicine, inject antibiotics and painkillers, and take my blood pressure and temperature regularly. I just noticed I had a catheter all along. 

Post operation Day 1

The next day, a nurse woke me up for breakfast and removed my IV and catheter. I got to brush my teeth from bed, and she helped me stand up. Then I began walking. The recovery was unexpectedly fast for me. My throat and belly don’t hurt as much as yesterday, but coughing was torture. I had to drink lots of water and carefully clear my throat. I wish I had brought along some lozenges.

Later that day, Doctor Manatsawee visited me. He told me more about the surgery and gave me bad news as well. He had more incredible difficulty removing my IUD than my tubes. Turned out my IUD had already perforated my myometrium. I was thankful I got my IUD out just in time before it could cause more damage, like perforating my uterus entirely. My surgeon cleared me to be discharged tomorrow, and we’ll meet for a post-op checkup in the next few days. That night, my boyfriend and I watched the 1996 Doctor Who movie on the flatscreen TV.

Discharge and recovery

I ate another bowl of Thai rice soup for breakfast and showered. The nurses finally came to remove my cannula and replace my Tegaderm plasters. The nurse let out a small gasp. I had developed blisters from my Tegaderm. She told me she’d call my surgeon. A nurse came with the remaining bill—20,370 THB. So, my bisalp in Thailand cost me 70 370 THB in total. I sent my boyfriend money to pay the remaining balance.

The nurse changing my plasters came back with her phone—a call from Doctor Manatsawee. He told me to replace my Tegaderm with silicone plasters and TA cream to treat the blisters. After I wolfed down my final McCormick Hospital lunch—a Thai wonton soup—we booked a Grab to take us back to our guesthouse.

My boyfriend left the morning after my discharge, so I remained solo for the rest of my time in Chiang Mai. I just rested, met with friends, and went around Nimman. My doctor cleared me to fly home and scheduled a follow-up consult for July next year. I don’t mind returning to Chiang Mai more often, as it’s now my Second Home. 

Wheelchair Assistance is your Best Friend

Exactly one week after my bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai, I flew back to the Philippines alone. I asked my Airbnb host for help carrying my luggage and backpack into the car. He told my grab driver to help me put my baggage into a cart at Chiang Mai Airport. At the Thai Airways counter, I requested wheelchair assistance upon check-in using the medical certificate from my surgeon. I got wheelchair assistance from Chiang Mai, my transit in Bangkok until I boarded my Grab at NAIA. When I got home, I removed my silicone plasters and the Steri-strips from my incisions.

One month after bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai

Two weeks after my bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai, I started going out and attending cosplay events. Because I can only wear dresses and baggy pants, I cosplayed the Fourth Doctor at the Tanabata Festival. Except for being unable to wear jeans, I felt mostly normal again. Aftercare is still fantastic. Three weeks Post-Op, my scabbed incisions started to itch, so I emailed my hospital. Doctor Manatsawee replied within the day, prescribing scar gel and steroid cream readily available in Manila. I was back to wearing my usual Jeans a month after my operation.

My bisalp surgery in Chiang Mai has changed my life. It was a dream that seemed impossible for me- and many Filipino women- until today. It was a leap of faith- one I will always be proud of myself. I will never forget the people who believed in me and helped me every step of the way. For two years of waiting, flying abroad, and spending 180,000 pesos, it is worth the lifetime of having a body you chose to call your own.