July 26, 2009

Dr. Kanayama has become an inspiration to me. He is one in a million. I know this because I have been treated by that million! After dealing with such a ridiculous amount of doctors, there is not one that holds a candle to Dr. Kanayama. Before seeing him, I had never been treated seriously, and was often disregarded by my doctors. I have even been accused of faking my symptoms, threatened with surgery as a means to get me to "fess up". As a future doctor, in the field of women's health, I can only strive to be has of the doctor that this man is. He is gracious and caring, brilliant with an incredible lack of arrogance. Instead of prescribing Vicodin and handing me referrals, he walked me through my first 3D sonogram, pointing out and explaining exactly what I was looking at. He drew pictures of the body and of Endometriosis, showing my family and me exactly what was going on in my body. I was not shooed out of his office, by encouraged to ask questions, not one of which wasn't answered thoroughly. Dr. Kanayama has not only saved my life, but at the age of 20, has given me a future!

At the age of 19 and 6 months after my fourth surgery with my second surgeon, I was college bound to the University of Texas A&M. Within 2 months, I became very sick, sick being an understatement considering I couldn't even keep water down and had basically given up on eating. After losing 15 pounds, putting me at a scary 97 pounds, my girlfriends took me to the hospital where I was hooked up to an IV. After rehydrating me, I was released only to come back twice more that same month. Wanting to become an Infertility Specialist myself, my GPA mattered. I couldn't afford to lay in bed and hospitals all day, missing class.

Consulting my Infertility Specialist back home, I was told it was impossible for the Endo to have come back. I was written a referral to a Pain Management Specialist, which I quickly crumbled up and threw away. All the doctor's wanted to do was give me pain medicine. Siding with the doctor that maybe it wasn't Endometriosis, but something else, I sought out my Family Practitioner and a GI Specialist. I had extensive blood work done, and Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, CT scan, and an MRI. All telling me nothing is wrong with me. I began to think that I was crazy. Did I want to be sick? Was I making myself sick? What kind of lunatic person wants to be sick? As awful as it is, I prayed for my tests to come back abnormal. I needed justification for my symptoms.

Through Texas A&M, I was given the opportunity to study at a University in Italy for the summer. I had filled out all of the information except a medical release form that my doctors refused to sign. With my head hung over the toilet, I began to talk to myself. "Nothing is wrong with you, you're crazy. You're not really nauseous. Stop doing this to yourself." When this obviously didn't work, I decided I was going to accept that I was sick, that this was simply going to be my quality of life. During this attempt at gaining some sanity, I realized that by accepting my way of life, I was giving up on my dreams. How could I get through Medical School when I couldn't even get out of my bed? How could I, honestly, do anything?

During a research project for a Medical Terminology Class, I began to look into Endometriosis, where I realized how much I didn't know about the condition. I was a textbook case. My symptoms had never changed and the only thing that matched every symptom I had were those listed on Wikipedia and every other website Google had to offer on the subject. Why I had never thought of Google.

Endometriosis is beyond me, but this is where I came upon Dr. Kanayama. After emailing my Mom his website, I was regretful. What if we went all the way to New York, and spent all of that money, only to come away with nothing? I couldn't bear to sit in another doctor's office, hearing that nothing was wrong with me. Behind my back, my Mom filled out the information on Dr. Kanayama's website and sent it. That was a Sunday, and first thing Monday morning, Dr. Kanayama's receptionist, Sabrina, as sweet and caring as can be, called. My Italy trip was cancelled, my finals moved up a week, and I was off to New York to see Dr. Kanayama.

While Dr. Kanayama didn't know it, seeing Endometriosis on my Uterus on the screen of my sonogram and hearing him tell me that I had Endometriosis was the best day of my life. What he was really telling me was that I wasn't crazy. There was something wrong with me, and he was going to fix it.

I was scheduled for surgery at the Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut. Like Dr. Kanayama and Sabrina, the hospital was unbelievable. After surgery, I received a handwritten, very personal letter from the Anesthesiologist and the O.R. Nurses of Greenwich Hospital, all of whom I have a very vague recollection of. They truly made me feel special.

Dr. Kanayama diagnosed me with Stage III Endometriosis. The pictures he took during surgery were horrific. I couldn't believe what the Endo had done to me. It was such a violating feeling, having something foreign inside of your body, destroying it. The damage that the Endometriosis had caused in only a year's time was devastating.

It has now been 2 months after my surgery and I am me again. I haven't missed a day of school or work. At the end of the day, I even have the energy to go out with my girlfriends! I don't feel the pain, I don't throw up, and I eat whatever I want! Endometriosis no longer controls my schedule, my life, or my future. Thanks to Dr. Kanayama, I am free, healthy and NORMAL! He has given me my life back.

Megan C.