A little bit under a month ago on August 9th, I left my last day of work with several feelings. The next day, which would be August 10th, my boyfriend and I started our trip on the long journey from Cleveland, OH to Atlanta, GA via Greyhound. That day, I left for one of the most nerve-wracking endeavors in my life. In fact, if you ask my boyfriend, he will tell you that during the morning of the 10th, I broke down, with anxiety, and had a full-on panic attack because I was so nervous. With the Lord in my heart, and in my mind, guiding me, after much prayer, my journey to become officially endometriosis free had began.
I was blessed to have been able to travel to Atlanta, GA to meet with one of the best of the best, a worldwide renowned excision surgeon by the name of Kenny Sinervo. The hope, that he would give me my life back.
To give you a bit of history: In October 2014, I underwent a laparoscopy to remove, or excise my endometriosis. Unfortunately, the surgeon who performed that surgery was not a skilled excision surgeon, and missed a large amount of endometriosis, and also misdiagnosed my staging.
Many woman with Endometriosis have to live with their pain lifelong, or they suffer. Many woman undergo surgery after surgery with surgeons who are not excision specialists. Many people asked me why Atlanta, and the reason? This doctor could fix me, or that was the hope...
And so our trip began. The day of the 11th was filled with meeting with Dr S. and his wonderful staff at the CEC, and of course, having an ultrasound done, and a pelvic exam done which showed I had moderate to severe pelvic floor dysfunction(which I will be doing PT for as soon as I am cleared by my PCP) lab work done, and the whole routine stuff like meeting with anesthesia, and registering at the hospital for my stay.
That night, I had to have my bowel prep, and let me tell you, I will never drink Gatorade again. Yuck! My poor boyfriend had to force me to drink the Miralax stuff. Before long, I was feeling the results. It seemed like between nerves, and the bowel prep, I was not getting much comfortable sleep that night.
And so, as nervous as we were, we went to the hospital, checked in, and by my side he stayed the entire time. I had previously heard wonderful things about Dr S. I had read and had been told that he would hold your hand until you go to sleep, and that he would pray with you. And he did both! It definitely relaxed me! There are not many doctors who do that, and he did! It felt comforting to know that God was with me during my surgery.
90 minutes seemed like forever to my poor boyfriend, who was waiting updates via pager. While they were in there, they removed my appendix, which was twisted, and inflamed, and all around bad. They got rid of my endometriosis (which was Stage 2) and they took great care of me.
Unfortunately, during the surgery, they confirmed that I have adenomyosis. Adenomyosis, is a condition that is a painful condition of the uterus, which the only cure for is a hysterectomy. So in 1-2 years, I will have a hysterectomy. But he also saved my life. While he was in there, he removed my bad appendix, which was all twisted, and just all around bad looking, and he performed a PSN, or presacral neurectomy, which I believe is the largest benefit, to pain management to pelvic pain sufferers for medical conditions, because thats it. I am PAIN FREE! (with the exception of hormonal migraines, and occasional back pain) but my quality of life has improved significantly~!
I don't really remember too much of the first and second day of the hospital, other than the fact that I was on IV Fluids, given injections of torodol, had to blow into this Pulmonary thingy, and was on a Dilaudid PCA Pump. I think I slept most of it off, but by the end of my second day in the hospital, as hard as it was, I was up, walking laps around the hospital, which was nice.
We were blessed to have spent days 3-6 in Atlanta with someone who is my second mother. I love that woman dearly, and she cares for me, my boyfriend and six year old dearly. It was a blessing to spend time with her, and enjoy her company. It really helped cheer me up.
Post-Op, I was given Perocet. I had a rough battle with it at first, but then realized, I am not really in a lot of pain, and by 11 days post-op, I did not need it at all.
14 days post-op, I followed up with my OB/GYN as directed and she, while an amazing doctor, is not really educated in Endometriosis. She had said some concerning things to me, like that all that was done was a "deep cleaning out" and that the Endo would grow back. Concerned, naturally, I ended up e-mailing my doctor and surgeon and asking him if I would end up having to re-go through surgery and discussing my concerns with him.
Most normal doctors would not write back. Most normal doctors are too "busy" to care about their patients after they are out of their care. Most normal doctors dismiss their patients concern. Not this one. He responded, with a long e-mail addressing my concerns and re-assuring me. I just wanted to take a moment and give a huge shout out to Dr. Sinervo, in Atlanta, GA because not only did he reach out to me, addressing all my concerns, via e-mail, but he re-assured me, and he cared. He took the time to care about me, and not a lot of doctors do this.
Dr S gave me my life back. Since 11 Days Post Op, I have not touched a pain pill. I used to pop pain meds like they were candy. Torodol. Topamax. Percocet. Valium. Dilaudid. Tylenol. Aspirin. Aleive/Naproxen/Naprosyn, Butalbital, Oxycodone, Neurotin, Vicoden, Celebrex, Demerol, LorTab, Fentanyl, Morphine, Keterolac, Advil, and unfortunately, so much more. These are just the small amounts of pain meds, both over the counter, prescribed and narcotics that were used in the past two years of dealing with my Endometriosis flare ups. I haven't touched them. Not one, in nearly one month. I've been pain free, with the exception of a hormonal migraine, which I get each month during my cycles, which is easily resolved with Fioricet, and Flexeril, I've been pain free. PAIN FREE. and I owe it all to the Center for Endometriosis Care, and Dr. S. and his wonderful staff. He gave me my life back!
If you are an Endometriosis Sufferer, please consider a FREE consult with the Center for Endometriosis Care in Atlanta, GA where they will review your records and go over your options with you! Dr. Sinervo gave me my life back. The life that I lived chronic pain with, and popped pills. I thought that was going to be the rest of my life, but Dr. S gave my life back to me, and I promise you, the CEC can help you too!
Born: June 25th 2009
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