But whenever we went to the clinic, we always encountered the same thing: kindness, smiles, hope… and we held hands and squeezed even tighter.
Almost two years ago my wife and I came to your clinic. We had been trying to become parents without any success for several years, starting treatment in a different clinic, only to be hindered by bureaucratic problems. The threat of time, age, and the little hope we had left were all stuffed into the same folder with all of the rest of our documentation.
Our first visit was, if possible, even more frustrating; the doctor that saw us didn’t give us much hope given my wife’s age, she was about to turn 40, but that was based purely on statistical data… nevertheless, she told us that she would do everything that she could to try and make our dream of being parents come true, that statistics were made to be broken.
And so began another journey of tests for both her and myself, calls to our insurance company, sleepless nights staring at our bedroom ceiling, and a single thought in our heads…will we achieve it?
But the data and the tests were what they were: advanced age and several years trying made our case a difficult one. We would start with inseminations and if this wasn’t successful, which ended up being the case, we would then move on to IVF.
I remember that the waits between one test and other, and between one insemination and the pregnancy test seemed to be eternal, and it took its toll on us, and it was not just a financial toll, but even more so, a psychological one… My wife and I found that we had less and less strength to carry on, but there was always a small light shining at the end of the tunnel.
I also remember, and it makes my soul shrink to think about it, that call from Dr. Marbán, telling us, with all the tact in the world, that the first IVF had not gone well either… that there was only one chance left, our last chance, our last hope.
Up to that point we had used up two inseminations and one IVF treatment; our time, strength, money, and hope were all running out.
And then the time came for our last IVF treatment… they performed it and we went home hopeful, hopeful once again, but with a terrible fear that this one wouldn’t work either, and if it failed… then what?
You may not realise it, but those stretches of time between tests while you are waiting for news, they affect your life, your day to day life, your partner, your marriage… everything, but once again, the smiles on the faces of the Tambre staff, from David in reception to Dr. García Enguídanos, made the procedure much more bearable.
And then the time came for the test… for the call. I don’t remember ever having smoked so much in so few hours while waiting for the call, just as I don’t remember ever having cried so many tears of joy when they told me over the phone that the test was positive…I couldn’t speak, I could only cry, cry, and cry some more…but this time I cried of joy.
I tried to find a way to tell my wife, to give her the good news, but I struggled to think straight, or even get my words out…I was so happy and wife was going to be happy too.
This was wonderful news for the whole family, and from then on there were new fears, new tests, ultrasounds, analyses…the usual, and each one more nerve-racking than the last… will everything go well?, will it grow like it is supposed to?, will it be implanted correctly?…and everything went as it was supposed to, and we were finally discharged from Clínica Tambre.
With another smile on her face, Dr. Marbán discharged us and honestly, we felt like we were orphans, we didn’t want to stop going to the clinic, we didn’t think anyone could look after us and help us throughout our pregnancy like they had done there… and I swore that I would write this thank-you letter, but as you can see, time slipped by me and I’m writing it today, because better late than never.
Our little girl Nieves is now two and a half months old, she is growing normally, and she is always laughing; I truly believe that you all infected her with your laughter because there was never a single moment when you weren’t smiling.
They say that money can buy anything, but there are some things that not even all of the money in the world can buy; professionalism, the right attitude, and a good work ethic, all of which the clinic’s staff had in abundance.
I wanted to send you this letter to thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the work you’ve done: to David, for the giant smile that he greeted us with every time we came in, to Dr. Marbán, for her friendly and encouraging tone, to Dr. García de Miguel, for her sweetness and her smile, to Dr. Garcia Enguídanos for his tact and politeness, and to the rest of the staff that helped us at one time or another, assistants, nurses, porters, administrative staff…keep up the good work, you’re going to make a lot of people happy.
As for us, we will keep on, God willing, enjoying our little Nieves, a girl that has a little bit of every single one of you, but most of all, she has your smile.
Eternally grateful
Damián and Rosa