May 30, 2008

The Husband's Viewpoint - From Colorado to New York City.

Dr. Kanayama is truly one of the most professional and understanding doctors and persons that my wife and I have ever met. For the past several years I watched my wife become more and more tired. She would get 8-10 hours of sleep at night, wake up exhausted, be tired all day, would come home take a nap and then a few hours later head back to bed. This was along with a ton of other symptoms that included extreme cramping with diarrhea, sharp pain on her right side and pain during intercourse. As a husband, I was frustrated and felt helpless that there was nothing I could do to take away the pain for my wife.

So, after months of watching my wife my wife coming and going to numerous doctors, I started becoming more and more frustrated with their diagnoses. They varied from her being told that she was depressed, to “you need to get your healthiness in check”, to making her feel like a hypochondriac, to she had none of the symptoms of endometriosis and even after telling the doctor that her mom had it they said that endometriosis is not hereditary and she was too old to get it.

Soon after that we started doing our own research of the disease online and came across Dr. Kanayama and the New York Endometriosis Center. We went through the entire site, including all the testimonials and decided that we needed to call. My wife called and spoke with Sabrina, the office manager, who listened with open ears and recommended that she called back the next day to speak to Dr. Kanayama directly to explore further options. She did and while speaking with him he told her that it sounds like she might have the disease - endometriosis. She then said that her mom had it and he followed up saying that the percentage is high due to all the symptoms discussed, but could not be 100% sure without a face to face consultation.

That was all I needed to hear. I looked at my beautiful wife and said we are going to New York. We called the following Monday and set up all appointments necessary and booked our flight from Colorado. The first visit was the consultation to make sure that it was endometriosis, which he thought it was. Then next day was the surgery which is an out-patient surgery and a few days later was the 3rd - a follow up. The surgery determined that she had Stage 3 endometriosis.

Without seeing Dr. Kanayama she would still be living with this painful disease. It has been two weeks after the surgery and my wife is recovering extremely well and I have seen a great improvement. I now have my wife back and I have Dr. Kanayama to thank for that. Dr. Kanayama and his staff are truly great people and I will recommend them to everyone we know!

Eric F.

Dear Dr. Kanayama,

Wow, where does one start? First and foremost, you are truly a God sent. I have never met a doctor who really listens to their patients, that is until the first phone call I made to you. The fact that you took the time to talk with me and listen to my concerns took me by surprise as I wasn’t even your patient and was calling from Colorado.

I write this letter to thank you for changing my life and the life of my family. I don’t know how long I have had this disease, but what I do know is you where the first doctor to take my symptoms seriously and acknowledge the possibility that I might have endometriosis. Even though you explained to me that you could not make a true diagnosis over the phone, the fact that you acknowledged what I was going through was a huge relief. At that moment I knew that I wasn’t crazy, that it wasn’t in my head and that I had found a doctor that I could trust!

I can honestly tell you that the decision to go see you was the best decision that my husband and I have ever made! Some people thought I was crazy for scheduling an appointment with a doctor in New York when I hadn’t even been diagnosed with endometriosis. But, they had not talked with you and heard the kindness in your voice. I knew that no matter what was wrong, you would work with me and together we would figure it out and that is exactly what we did. You were able to diagnose me with Stage 3 endometriosis and at the same time removed all of it.

I am exactly two weeks post-op and am feeling amazing! There are no words that can accurately describe the admiration and respect that I have for you but I can tell you that there is no other doctor that I trust as much as I do you. I look forward to seeing you in six months and thank you again!!
Best regards,

Genevieve F.