My experience with Dr. Sinervo

Good Afternoon everyone! First off I wanted to say thank you for all the encouraging messages and good lucks I have gotten. I feel so blessed to have people who care! I am sorry I have not posted in about three weeks. This recovery is more painful than the past ones. Also, I want to thank everyone who has donated to the go fund me. The final total was 3,100 dollars! I never imagined we would get that much money! Thank you all so much! Today on the blog I will be talking about my trip to Atlanta and my experience with Dr. Sinervo.

My mom and I left from Harrisburg International Airport on Wednesday, June 17th, the day before my surgery. The night before, I could barely sleep. I was so excited to get to Atlanta and meet the doctor. Are plane left around 7 am and landed in Atlanta around 9 am. We then met our driver that was taking us to the hotel which was about a half an hour away. My mom and I did not pay for the driver ourselves. The Daffodil Society, a non-profit organization for endo, was generous enough to arrange the transportation and pay for it. We went right to the hotel. On the way there, I looked out the window and took in the beautiful scenery that Atlanta has to offer.

When we got to the hotel, we settled into our room and then went to get a bite to eat. We walked to a little bagel shop called Einsteins Bagel Company. I was only able to have a light breakfast so I had an egg sandwich and apple juice. After that, we had the hotels shuttle take us to the nearby mall, Perimeter Mall. We walked around for about two hours and bought a few things. I noticed how different it was here compared to Pennsylvania. I felt that everything was more expensive and people had more money. The people did not bother me though because everyone was incredibly nice! Talk about southern hospitality!

After we were done at the mall, it was time to go to my pre-op appointment with Dr. Sinervo. It was about a mile away so we had the shuttle drive us. We got to the office and we were greeted by some of his staff at the front desk. The first person we met was Trish. She was very nice and explained clearly everything we need to do. She also explained that Dr. Sinervo was running a little behind due to a surgery going longer than expected. When I was called back, it was before he was even in the office. The nurse, Dee, just wanted to check my vitals. She was a hoot! She made me feel so comfortable and calm. After a quick weigh in and checking my temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, I headed out to the waiting area. Sitting there was my mom and this women and her husband. We talked to them for awhile and found out our surgery is on the same day. I am not going to go into much detail about that but I will in my next post when I talk about some of the endo sisters I met on the trip. About 20 minutes later, a Women named Jean, took me back to a office and talked about what to expect after surgery, where the hospital was, payments, etc. then  she gave me the stuff for my bowel prep that I needed to begin that night and sent us back out to the waiting area. We walk back out and there were at least three other couples sitting out there all waiting to see the same doctor. At this point, I was extremely nervous because 1. I was getting surgery tomorrow and 2. I was going to have my first pelvic exam ever which I felt extremely uncomfortable about. An hour later, I was taken back to meet Dr. Sinervo.

I walked back into his office and there he was... this doctor was going to give me my life back. First, we talked about all the different procedures he may need to do as well as recovery, and pain medicine. Then we went to the exam room. I changed into a gown and waited for him to come back in. Then, Dr. Sinervo, Dee, and an Assistant doctor that was helping with the surgery came back in. He did a quick pelvic exam, and then explained that he did not think I had a pelvic floor Disorder which was great because he didn't have to perform a Presacral Nerectomy ( sorry if I spelled it wrong) which is when they cut the nerves to the uterus. When we were done talking, he gave me a big hug and then we left to go back to the hotel. I started the bowel prep and then went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

I woke up ready for surgery. The day was finally here. We had to be at the hospital at 8 am for my surgery that is scheduled for 11 am. We again took the hotel shuttle to the hospital and got checked in for surgery. My mom and I were taken to the women's center waiting room, and waited to be taken back to get prepped for surgery. We walked in and saw the women we met yesterdays husband. We talked to him for a little until I was taken back.

I was taken back to the room, I put a gown on, and laid down on the bed. I was waiting for them to hook me up to the monitors and the IV. About an hour later, after everything was hooked up and all the doctors came in and talked to my mom and I, I was all prepped. Dr. Sinervo came in one final time before we got started. he reassured me everything was going to be okay and then prayed with me. Next thing I know we were in the OR. Dr. Sinervo came in and held my hand as I was slowly put to sleep. This was it.

I woke up in recovery feeling awful. I was shaking because I was so cold, and I felt like I really had to pee because they put a catheter in. ( sorry if that was too much info). I was in horrific pain. All I wanted was my mom but she wasn't allowed to see me until I went to my hospital room. In order for me to get to go to my hospital room, the pain had to get better. Because I wanted my mom, I lied. I told them the pain got better when it didn't. When I got up to my room, my mom explained what they had found. I once again had endometriosis on the bladder, uterus, and appendix. They also found a ton of adhesions. Thankfully, Dr. Sinervo got it all out. He even took out my appendix. I was a little disappointed because it was the same amount of endo and in the same areas as it had been in my previous surgery which was only 8 months ago. I couldn't believe it had grown back so fast. Dr. Sinervo said that it is possible for it to grow back that fast. It also may have still been there and in my previous surgery they did not know that it was endo so they did not clean it out. The rest of the day, I slept off the anesthesia.

I woke up the next day still in a ton of pain. I was also very hungry since I had not eaten any solid foods for at least 24 hours. I still wasn't aloud to eat a lot of food. I had to watch what I was eating for the next few days so that it doesn't upset my stomach. I also had a brace around my stomach that helped "keep everything together". It did help me a lot when I walked. Still even when I was laying down it helped but did not take away all of my pain. The pain was horrible. I was worried that this recovery was going to go a lot longer than expected.

Later that afternoon, I was sent home. Home for me right now was a hotel room. I had to stay in Atlanta for the next 72 hours. After we got back to the hotel, I slept for what felt like forever. I ended up sleeping, recovering, and doing absolutely nothing for the next two days. Three days after my surgery, I woke up feeling some relief. I felt like I could walk around and do a few things. My mom and I went to the mall to meet up with an endosister from Virginia. Now I know I shouldn't be at the mall but I was feeling some what normal and it was only for an hour. When we met up with the endosister, she brought me a bunch of goodies from the endomarch. We then sat down and talked about our experiences with endo and how lucky we felt to be in Atlanta seeing Dr. Sinervo. She told me that this was going to be her 55th surgery! I almost fell off my chair! I then just prayed that he would help her get relief. We then said our goodbyes. My mom and I walked around the mall for about 30 minutes, and then went back to the hotel. Once again I slept the rest of the day.

The next day, I had a post op appointment with Dr. Sinervo early in the morning. Later that afternoon we were coming home. I walked into the CEC feeling pretty good. I was surprised that I could fit my jean shorts on over my belly. I was still wearing the brace though to help. We waited for a few minutes in the waiting room and then they took my mom and I back. We went back into a exam room and then a very short few minutes later Dr. Sinervo's coworker (whom I forget their name) walked in. He took a look at my incesions and then showed us the pictures from the surgery. He explained what everything was and then Dr. Sinervo came in. He explained everything they did in the surgery and where we should go from here. It ended up that I needed to find a new OBGYN close to home. I have gotten in with Madonna Talbert next week. She wasn't taking any new patients but when we explained my situation, they took me in. I feel very blessed to have gotten in this quick. Anyways, after Dr. Sinervo went over everything, he gave me a big hug and wished me luck. My life just changed forever by this guy and I couldn't be more thankful. We said goodbye to all of his wonderful staff and went back to the hotel. A few hours later we were off to the airport and were on our way home.

My experience with Dr. Sinervo was absolutely amazing. I could not believe how amazing of a doctor he was and how great his bed side manor was. This trip was something I will never forget because he gave me my life back and I cannot describe how thankful I am for him. I recommend him to anyone that is struggling with Endometriosis. Do not even debate it! It is worth every penny! As of today, I am about 3 weeks pain free. I haven't gone this long without pain in three years! I am recovering well and feel the best I have felt in years. Thank you Dr. Sinervo and his team for giving me my life back! You guys are incredible!