I have a few questions for anyone who had their tubes tied

I had a bilateral salpingectomy last month and it was great!

I'm 26. The first doctor I asked about it, last year, said "absolutely not" without even listening to my reasons first. She was really judgmental and condescending about it, and the logical answers I had to all her bingos just seemed to make her angry. A year later I asked a different doctor, who was a little reluctant, but she referred me to a surgeon who was totally fine with it.

I didn't have any significant pain. The doctor had given me a prescription for Percocet and I also bought some Tylenol, but I didn't end up taking anything except the one pill they gave me in the hospital immediately after the surgery. I had some sore muscles in that area for a few days, but it just felt like I'd done an intense ab workout, like too many sit-ups. I also had a sore throat, and it was uncomfortable to pee (I've heard since then that that's from the catheter, but no one ever told me I had/was going to have one) for the first day after the surgery. I had a stiff neck for a couple days, but that was probably from trying to sleep on my back instead of on my stomach. I had the surgery on a Friday and went back to work just fine on Monday. The first time I really tried exercising (running and stretching) afterward was the next weekend (8 days after surgery) and that was fine too.

Now (6 weeks later) I have two scars that are visible, but tiny. They're near my hips on each side, about halfway between my belly button and where my pubic hair starts (just like the middle picture here). The third incision is hidden inside my belly button. The one on my right side had some bruising around it for a while but it wasn't painful. I also had a bruise on my hand from where they put the IV needle in, and for some reason that lasted longer than the one by the surgical incision!

Probably the worst part of the experience was all the waiting the day of. The surgeons were behind schedule, so I was told to arrive at 12:30 for surgery at 2:30, but it ended up being almost 6 before I actually got started. So I had to wait in the waiting bed area for several hours with nothing to do, because they made me leave my phone and everything out in the visitor area with my friend who was driving me home. They'd also put my IV in right away so I had this needle sticking in my hand the whole time and couldn't even take a nap because of that. And that was after not being able to eat or drink anything all day to prepare for the surgery.

Overall, it was totally worth it though. Being unable to get pregnant is such a relief, and I never have to worry about birth control again! (I'd had some problems with hormonal birth control before this). I haven't told anyone in my family that I got it done, but if you're comfortable telling them then I'd imagine it'd also be a great way to shut down any bingos. And sometimes there are posts on here about people whose partners don't want them to get sterilized, which makes me glad to have gotten it over with while I'm single - any future partners will just have to accept it!

I paid like $5 for the Percocet prescription, but everything else was covered 100% by my insurance.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

/r/childfree Thread