Nerves....

Last night, I got my plans finalized for my surgery in Atlanta with Dr Sinervo and so many things are running through my head...

My boyfriend Matthew and I will be leaving August 10th via Greyhound and arriving in Atlanta the morning of the 11th. 

We will take a MARTA to the Center for Endometriosis Care to meet with Dr Sinervo at 1pm. Than I will meet with Anesthesia at 3pm at Northside hospital. 

On the 11th, I am on a pure liquid diet, and I will have to do a bowel prep (yuck) but it is apart of the surgery prep. 

My surgery will take place the morning of the 12th at 7:15am, which means we have to be at Northside Hospital for 5:15am. 

We have a hotel, at the Microtel Inn and Suites from the 11th until the 14th. From the 14th to the 16th, we will be staying with a family friend of mine who I consider a second mother, and then we will be returning via Greyhound, leaving on the 16th and arriving in downtown Cleveland the 17th. 

Last night, I also realized just how nervous I am about my surgery. So many things going through my mind. 

Because of my nerves lately, I have unequivocally become more anxious and moody. I was able to finally express to my boyfriend last night all of my fears and told him just how scared out of my mind I am. 

Things like: What if they find nothing? Than no answers for my excruciating pain. OR What if they find a lot, than my hopes of children in the future is destroyed. OR what if the worse happens, and I bleed out, or I develop a blood clot in my leg that travels to my lungs again ect. ect. 

Its been a painfully long journey with endometriosis, and so I have several thoughts running through my mind...

Surgery Date!

I got this in my e-mail today, and I am excited, happy, and nervous. 

Dear April,

Thank you for choosing us as your health care provider.  A great deal of work has now been done by our team to ensure that your surgery will be performed without any unexpected administrative inconveniences or surprises. 

Your surgery has been scheduled at the Northside Hospital 3rd Floor Surgery on Wednesday August 12th 2015 at 7:15am. Please arrive no less than 2 hours prior to your scheduled surgery time  5:30am.  Their telephone number is 404-851 8000.   

Before your surgery you will need to see Dr. Sinervo for your preop appointment at his office on Tuesday August 11th @1:30pm. You will be signing your consent forms and discussing your procedure with Dr. Sinervo.  Please jot down any questions you may have so you can discuss them with him at this time.   Following this, you will meet with Anesthesia AT Northside Hospital, at 3:00pm. You will need to provide us clearances from your Endocrinologist, and Hematologist.

We have been in contact with your insurance carrier and have been given the following benefit information.  You  can expect them to pay 70% of usual and customary fees after you have met your annual deductible of $600.00.   This means that you will be responsible for the remaining balance of 30% and any deductibles which have not been met to date until you have satified your out-of-pocket limit of $4000.00.   

You will be expected to pay $500.00 at the time of your pre-op visit, pluse your deposit of $500.00 will equal $1000.00.    
(Yes this means I will be paying $1000 out of pocket! Not including Hotel and Travel!)

If you have any questions please call me 770-913-0001.  

Unfortunately, we will be required to cancel your surgery if you do not (1) send in the $500.00 surgery deposit to secure your surgery date at least 21 days in advanced, (2) follow through and bring your payment at the time of your pre-op appointment once these arrangements have been made & agreed upon.

I have included a list of medications to avoid taking two weeks prior to surgery.  If you are currently taking any of these medications, please let me know so I can review them with Dr. Sinervo  

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the above listed number.  Since the majority of our patients reside out-of-state and will probably not get to see Dr. Sinervo after surgery, it would be to your advantage to bring a small tape recorder with you so that your family member can tape the postop conversation with Dr. Sinervo explaining your surgical procedure.

So that we can keep your preop appointment as efficient as possible and avoid any additional waiting time, I am enclosing a packet of forms for you to complete and bring back with you to the preop visit.



Sincerely

Jean Williams
Surgical Care Coordinator

Hope....

There is hope... with hope, there is everything. I've learned this the hard way.
I started my new job with Apple, as an At Home Advisor on April 6th, and opted for their insurance, which is through United Health Care. Through UHC, there is a $600.00 out of network deductible, and $3400 co-insurance. I am unsure what this means, but I e-mailed Jean to re-go over everything.

Later on that day....

My insurance will cover 70% of reasonable costs.
The hospital is in network.
I need to come up with $1000.00 which includes the $600 deductible, and $400 towards the office.
 Jean is going to call me in a few days to schedule a surgery date.

Jean from CEC Called Me, Unfortunately not good news....

So today, Jean, the financial coordinator for the Center for Endometriosis Care in Atlanta, GA contacted me to go over pricing for everything.
Unfortunately, my insurance, which is Medicare, is not accepted, so I will be an out of pocket patient.
I am crushed. How am I going to come up with $3000 to pay as a down payment, when I am out of work? I guess I will have to wait until next year for tax returns for surgery. Oh well, I am crushed...

An E-mail from CEC!

Today I got an e-mail that shows that the CEC got my records from the doctor. The e-mail was as follows:

April,
This message is to inform you that Dr. Albee has given us your records.  You will receive a call from Jean in approximately 14+ business days to discuss surgical cost and a surgical date. 
I know this is a long time to wait but please be patient with us.
Thank you,
Beth 
 
Center For Endometriosis Care
Ken Sinervo MD & Robert Albee MD
ph# 770-913-0001
fx# 770-913-0005 

xD I am really excited. I cannot wait for this phone call.

Contact Made!!!

So I spoke to Robert Albee this morning, the founder for Center for Endometriosis Care in Atlanta, GA who is taking and reviewing cases for Dr Kenny Sinervo (the guy who does the surgeries) and we are going ahead with surgery. 

He said my history is very suggestive of "adenomyosis" and that while I had the surgery in October, it looks as though they likely did not get deep enough to remove all the adhesion's. 

They are going to be re-doing a diagnostic lap, removing adhesions, removing ALL my endo, and looking/confirming/treating the adenomyosis. 

He did say that the CEC has only had one case in all the years of treatment that has had the endometriosis return, and so I am confident this is the right decision. 

He said they will remove any adhesion's found on my uterus also, because this could affect my adenomyosis, and he said he is very sorry for all my losses (8 miscarriages, and 1 stillborn) but that he is happy I have 1 miracle baby. 

He said the next step is in about 2 weeks I will get an e-mail to start the paperwork for the administrative side of process. 

I will be asking for a July or August surgery date because I want to ensure childcare for my daughter is secure. 

He said if it is confirmed to be adenomyosis, this combined with the endometriosis could be the reason why I have had so many losses. I feel relieved. But I'm nervous at the same time. Knowing this is going to be the last time I will have to deal with this, makes me excited.

A New Hope...

After my frustrations with the doctor and refusing both Aygestin (Birth Control) due to Hematologist saying no, its not an option due to it saying on the label if you've ever had clots to not take (I had a DVT/PE in 2011, and I also have FVL Heterozygous, a clotting disorder)  and refusing Norethindrone (another type of progesterone only birth control I guess) and straight up telling the doctor that I refuse Lupron or any birth control, and her making me feel like I was nothing, I did several hours of research and came across Dr. Sinervo and the Center for Endometriosis Care.

Some things that patients have said about this doctor:
http://www.centerforendo.com/references.htm

So I figured, what do I have to lose, but to send them my records. 
I had previously registered as a patient of theirs in November of 2014 anyway, so they had my information on file, and they were just waiting for me to send my records for review.

I took it upon myself to send a lengthy narrative, and my records from surgery in October of 2014 and my post-operative reports along with my follow-ups with the doctor and ended up sending my records today, and I hope to hear something from them soon. I will update when I hear something.


Here is a copy of my Narrative Report (So People can see an idea of what to send):


Narrative Report

Demographics

Patient: April Marie Driesse, DOB: 09/26/1989, Age: 25 years 4mos
Address: (input your address here)
Phone Numbers: (input phone numbers here)
Height: 5ft 4 inches Weight: 232lbs
Date of Narrative Report: 02/09/2015


Summary:

The patient is a 25 year old female who has been surgically diagnosed with Stage I Endometriosis in October 2014. The surgery was done on October 27th 2014 at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. The surgery that was performed was: 1. Laparoscopy 2. Dilation&Cutterage and 3. Hysteroscopy. Diagnosis was made via biopsy. The patient was 25 years old when diagnosed. No hysterectomy performed.  No negative laparoscopy, as this was the patient’s first laparoscopic procedure. No prior surgeries were ever performed to treat Endometriosis. 

The patient was “diagnosed” with Endometriosis via an Emergency Room Visit per her medical records. Prior to the surgery, the patient had been living in excruciating pain at the time of menses. Patient described that no medication would help, and she would often curl into fetal position and become immobile, lying in bed for days at a time, until menses lapsed. 

The patient explains that surgery was done in October 2014, and that by February 2015, symptoms had returned. The patient was offered prior treatment on Lupron and Aygestin but declined. Lupron’s affects were far too risky, and patient was not comfortable taking this drug. Aygestin was prescribed, but patient refused to take due to the bottle stating “if you have a clotting disorder or have ever developed a blood clot, you should not take this drug” as patient had a DVT/PE in her left leg and lung in April 2011, so patient is not on any treatment for Endometriosis. 

The patient understood that without treating the endometriosis with birth control such as Depo Provera, or Aygestin, or Lupron that the Endometriosis would come back and the only way to remove the Endometriosis is via Laproscopic Procedure. The patient believes that her Endometriosis was not excised completely, and that the Endometriosis may have grown back in the five short months due to inability to treat and wishes to have a second opinion.

History

The patient describes her period first started at the age of seven, and was very heavy and painful. By the age of eleven her periods went away all together. Farther testing being done through New Hampshire Hospital showed that the patient’s LH levels were abnormal and follow-up by an OB/GYN was recommended. 

The patient was then diagnosed with PCOS, and placed on birth control pills (Lo-Orval) for years to maintain her painful menses. The patient was not definitively diagnosed with Endometriosis until her Laparoscopy in October 2014, so the patient went from 2000 to 2014 without being diagnosed and treated. That is fourteen years. The patient saw multiple OB/GYN’s in that period of time, none seemed too concerned with her level of pain that she was in and called it “normal”. There is no known family history associated with endometriosis. 


Pregnancy / Contraceptives and Relevant History
-        2000 to 2007: Lo-Orval
-        2007 to 2009: Lapse in Birth Control
o   *Patient had no insurance and became pregnant*
§  In September 2007, Patient had first miscarriage at 5 weeks. Unknown causes.
§  In Dec 2007, patient conceived a child who was born still on 2 May 2008 and the result of a partial placental abruption and HLHS
§  In July 2008, patient had a miscarriage at 6 weeks. Unknown causes.
§  In Nov 2008, patient found out she was pregnant again, and this child was due July 2009 but Born in June 2009.
·        High Risk Pregnancy
·        Followed Closely through Bedford Commons OB/GYN and Family Health centers of SWFL/Maternal Fetal Medicine of SWFL
·        Child Delivered at 36 weeks 5 days / 34 weeks 5 days Gestational age
§  In August 2009, patient had another miscarriage at 4 weeks. Unknown causes.
§  In September 2009, patient was placed on the Mirena IUD
§  In April 2010, IUD Dislodged, Pregnancy Occurred, Miscarriage at 6 weeks.
§  In June 2010, Paraguard IUD Inserted
§  April 2011, DVT/PE, Spontaneous.
§  August 2011, Paraguard IUD Dislodged, Pregnancy Occurred, Miscarriage at 6 weeks.
§  Decided to give Mirena IUD one more try after persuasion from an MD. (Even knowing that I had a DVT/PE in April 2011)
·        Mirena inserted in November 2011
·        Mirena IUD Removed in April 2012 for TTC Purposes
§  Not on any form of birth control since April 2012.


Fertility Drugs / TTC
§  Clomid Started in January 2013
·        50mg – Annovulation
·        100mg – Annovulation (Feb 2013)
·        150mg – Annovulation (March 2013)
§  Femera Started in April 2013
·        2.5mg – Annovulation (April 2013)
·        5mg – Annovulation (May 2013)
·        10mg – Annovulation (June 2013)
·        12.5mg – Ovulation (Bad Egg) (July 2013)

A pregnancy occurred as the result of ovulation on 12.5mg of Femera in August 2013. In August 2013, the patient got a positive pregnancy test, followed by a declining beta. The pregnancy resulted in what is called a “chemical” pregnancy.  There was no more fertility drugs issued at this point. The patient decided to give up TTC (Trying to conceive). 

The patient fell pregnant on January 7th 2014. She ovulated on or around December 25th 2013. The patient experienced her second chemical pregnancy on January 17th 2014 at 5 weeks 6 days.

It was determined that the patient had Factor V Leiden Mutation and was heterozygous. It was also determined that the patient had MTHFR A1298C Mutation. Both of these combined with hormonal and auto-immune conditions were to blame for the patient’s lack of ovulation, as well as the lack of sustainment of a pregnancy. The patient DOES want future children and states she would like 1-2 more, but she has given up on trying for right now. (6 miscarriages, 2 chemical pregnancies, 1 stillborn)

As far as holistic efforts go for the patient’s endometriosis, the patient has tried heating pads, naturopathic medicine to consist of acupuncture, massage therapy and chiropractics, as well as traditional Chinese medicine. Nothing helped long term.

Diagnoses
This patient has a long list of medical diagnosis. The following are her diagnosis and the providers who follow her.
            Past History of Deep Vein Thrombosis
            Past History of Pulmonary Embolism
            Female Infertility
            Chronic Kidney Disease – Stage II, Controlled
            Fibromyalgia
            Hashimotos Thyroiditis (Auto-Immune)
            Addisons Disease (Auto-Immune)
            Vitamin D Deficiency
            Chronic Back Pain
            Primary Hypercoagulable State
            Past History of Pleurisy
            Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
            Generalized Anxiety Disorder
            Borderline Personality Disorder
            Diabetes Type II
            Hypothyroidism
            Obesity
            Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
            Chronic Migraines
            GERD
            Anemia
            Past History of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (In Complete Molecular Remission)
            Factor V Leiden Mutation, Heterozygous
            MTHFR Deficiency and Homocystinuria
            Myalgia and Myositis
            Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
            Lumbosacral Spondylosis without Myleopathy
            Cervicogenic Headaches
            Sacral Illiac Joint Dysfunction
            Brachial Neuritis or Radiculitis
            Endometriosis – Stage I

Followed By:
1.      Vivian Chukwuani – PCP
2.      Leila Khan – Endocrinologist
3.      David Krahe – Orthopedics
4.      Christy Samaras – Hematology/Oncology
5.      Julie Tan – Reproductive Endocrinology Infertility
6.      Viet Nguyen – Dermatology
7.      Apostolos Kontzias – Rheumatology
8.      Pasha Saeed – Pain Management
9.      Colleen Raymond – OB/GYN
10.   Natalie Evans – Vascular Medicine
11.   Tanya Wagner – Physical Therapy
12.   Kripa Kavassari – Urology
13.   Luzma Cardona – Neurology
14.   Jen Walters – Counselor * Mental Health
15.   Dr Bernard – Medication Management * Mental Health

Pain Management
For pain management, the patient sees Dr. Pasha Saeed. The doctor prescribes the patient the following: Tramadol 50mg, Lidocaine 5% patches, Topamax 100mg, TENS Unit, Cyclobenzaprin 10mg, Fioricet, over the counter medications such as Tylenol, Motrin, Ibuprofin, and the patient does physical therapy in the water as well as nerve injections. The patient also uses a heating pad and in the past has used controlled medications such as Percocet and Hydromorphine. The pain regimen is not really affective, but the patient utilizes and tolerates the pain.

Quality of Life
The patient reports trying to lose weight, to better her life, as well as her health for the purpose of her daughter. The patient reports that menses are still very heavy and painful, and the pain is back to a 10/10 whereas last month at the follow-up appointment the pain was gone. The patient states “it is like the pain came back with a vengeance” The limitations that this pain has is it affects the patients mood. The patient has been depressed because her pain level is high. The patient reports that nothing is working and she is frustrated with her pain level. It affects her social life and her relationships because when she is in pain she becomes more irritable and hard to be around.

Symptoms
The patient reports the following symptoms: Chronic pelvic pain, Chronic low back pain, Cramping, Infertility, Painful Menses, Painful Sex, Painful Urine and Bowel Movements, Trouble going to the bathroom (Can’t go but have to). The only abnormalities reported by a healthcare provider recently is that the Thyroid Meds needed to be adjusted.

Frustrations
The frustrations relating to this disease are the chronic pain that the patient lives in. The patient also reports frustrations because doctors do not properly treat endometriosis around where she lives. The patient states that she is frustrated because she cannot be on birth control due to her past history of clots. The patient wants more children in the future, but because of her endometriosis and infertility it makes it hard to conceive. The patient is frustrated with her body and wishes it would just work for once. She feels that her body has rejected her and she cannot do the one thing a woman should be able to do. She states that she feels as though when her periods come she dreads them. She just wants her Endometriosis REMOVED ENTIRELY so she does not live in this pain anymore.

Conclusion
The patient has tried multiple remedies. Her Endometriosis appears to have come back within five months. The patient really wants a second opinion from an Endometriosis Excision Specialist to see what options she has for treatment and getting rid of her chronic pain and her endometriosis. Please evaluate and review the patient’s medical records as well as the narrative and the attached and help her.

Thank you in advance