February 27, 2009

There have been so many times that I have sat down to write this letter, but I still can’t seem to find the words to thank Dr. Kanayama for everything he has done for me. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about how he has changed my life and how grateful I am for having the opportunity to be one of his patients. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There are not many people out there that have suffered from this condition and can say that they are one of the lucky ones. So many women are going from doctor to doctor, surgery to surgery and trying every type of medication out there to find relief from endometriosis.  Every day I think of all the women out there, all the ones that are suffering. Some of them do not even know they have this condition because no one is willing to listen to them. It saddens me to think that there are so many people out there that are suffering from this disease; from the physical pain to the emotional pain that it causes. It just baffles me that there is a proper way to treat endometriosis, yet so many people out there are either being misdiagnosed, unheard or treated in a manner that does not alleviate the effects of this condition.  I can’t understand why so many doctors burry their heads when it comes to endometriosis; however, I am so thankful for Dr. Kanayama’s determination in finding a way to treat it.

In November of 2007 I had the surgery that changed my life. Finally, for the first time in years I felt like myself again. Everything went away from the abdominal pain, the fatigue to the headaches. It was amazing just to be able to stay up at night and watch a movie with my husband without struggling to stay awake.  However, there was still one part of my journey that I wanted to complete and that was having a baby. After struggling with the decision on how to go about conceiving a child, my husband and I decided to have some embryos implanted that we had frozen prior to my surgery with Dr. Kanayama. After discussing my plan with Dr. Kanayama he felt that if I had the embryos implanted that it was best if I went to a doctor that had a strong background in endometriosis. Dr. Kanayama referred me to his friend Dr. Mukherjee at RMA in New York City. After my first frozen IVF attempt I was pregnant. Dr. Mukherjee called Dr. Kanayama to tell him the good news. Sabrina then called
 to congratulate me and said that Dr. Kanayama would like to follow my pregnancy as well and to make an appointment with him.  I can remember the day like it was yesterday. I was six weeks pregnant and went to see Dr. Kanayama.  I was so nervous, as this ultrasound would determine if this was a viable pregnancy and for me this is where everything went downhill during my first pregnancy. Dr. Kanayama could see how nervous I was. He looked at me and told me that this time it would be different since the endometriosis had been treated and would not affect the pregnancy. Low and behold a few minutes later two heartbeats appeared on the screen.  That was one of the happiest moments in my life. It was hard for my husband and I to relax during this pregnancy. After losing our first pregnancy and all the years of disappointment in trying to conceive, we had this fear that that something bad would happen and we would be disappointed again. Dr. Kanayama could sense our nervousness and saw us every two weeks for the first couple of months to ease our minds.  He also wanted to make sure that we were settled in and comfortable with the new team of doctors that would monitor my pregnancy and deliver our babies. We were also very nervous to put the care of our babies’ into someone else’s hand as we had become very accustomed to the level of care we had received from Dr. Kanayama and Dr. Murkherjee.  We ended up going to Maternal Fetal Medicine in New York City for the duration of my pregnancy, a place recommend by both doctors and featured in the Oprah magazine.  On December 10, 2008 we delivered the boys at 37 plus weeks via c-section.  We had informed my doctor of my prior surgery with Dr. Kanayama and my history of endometriosis.  During the c-section my doctor actually took my entire uterus out. He told me that he was amazed at how well my endometriosis surgery went. He said there was absolutely no evidence of me ever having endometriosis, let alone stage four. He was absolutely stunned and said it looked like a brand new uterus. He was so impressed that he told the doctors at his practice what a wonderful job Dr. Kanayama did and how amazed he was that after examining my insides during the c-section, that there was no evidence of me ever having endometriosis.

I truly believe that if it was not for Dr. Kanayama my pregnancy would not have been a success and I would have continued to have miscarriage after miscarriage like many other endometriosis patient s. Every day I look at my two healthy boys and I am so thankful I decided to make that call to Dr. Kanayama’s office back in October of 2007. When I made that call and Sabrina picked up the phone I knew I was in the right place. I really appreciate all the help Sabrina has given me throughout my entire experience at Dr. Kanayama’s practice, from answering my questions to helping me handle my insurance claims and rooting for me on my journey to becoming a parent. After all the years of struggling with infertility and the loss of my first pregnancy, I had almost lost all hope that I would ever become a mother. I am one of those people that believes that everything happens for a reason, so when I was struggling with my infertility I could not understand why I was not able to get pregnant.   Looking back I now know that if I had been able to get pregnant before my surgery with Dr. Kanayama I would not have been able to be the mother that I am now. The abdominal pain, the fatigue and the headaches would have taken away from the joys of being a new mom. Never did I ever imagine that the phone call I made one afternoon in October of 2007 would change my life completely. I truly feel blessed to have been under the care by some of the best doctors out there. I am so thankful for everything Dr. Kanayama has done for me and for the care I have received from other doctors based on recommendations through him. He truly has your best interest at heart both inside and outside his office.  Thanks a million times!

Danielle