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Speaker 1:
You may remember our next guest, Julia, who came to us with paralyzing pain due to endometriosis. It was taking a physical toll, but she also says it was ruining her life. This is a reminder.

Julia:
When I was 13, I got my first period.

Michele:
She was having strange headaches, stomach issues.

Julia:
And I started getting it twice a month. The doctor confirmed that I had endometriosis at 17 years old. Over the past two and a half years, it started to turn into everyday pain. I sometimes have to go to the ER. I start screaming, excruciating pains and it feels like I’m being stabbed over and over and over again.

Michele:
Why can’t somebody help my kid?

Speaker 4:
I’m sorry. You’ve been suffering so much from this. Dr. Tamer Seckin is one of the leading doctors when it comes to this. He has a message for you.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
I am pleased to inform you that I will be performing your surgery. You deserve your quality of life back pain-free.

Speaker 1:
We sent Julia to see board certified gynecologist, Dr. Tamer Seckin, in the hope that she could finally be relieved of the pain that she was in.

Michele:
She’s just in excruciating pain. I’m praying. She gets her life back.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
The type of endometriosis she may have is early stage. The procedure will consist of removing the lesions of endometriosis, which we think is the cause of her pain and agony.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
This part is the hysteroscopy. This is specifically the inside of the uterus. The entrance of the womb. Everything is normal so far. Let’s look at this bowel. Because we see the appendix, stomach, heart. The heart is pulsating in the back. Spleen and gallbladder, which is normally looking. Where there is no endometriosis on this side.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
I’m lifting the ovaries up. There are some areas that are very suspicious here. Some inflammation on the sides. We are looking for hidden endometriosis. Can we have the blue dye please? You see these white things? We are going to biopsy them. It’s going to show most likely inflammation.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
So far. I have found one classic area here. I’m going to go undermine this layer. You see that area with spots? This is where endometriosis is mostly missed by many doctors. Every little capillary has a nerve around it. That’s why these patients do have pain.

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
We’re going to remove this area now. These holes, they are all signs of inflammation, we didn’t see initially. I’m removing all of it completely. The tips are implanted. It’s up to pathologists not to see if they are very early signs of endometriosis.

Speaker 1:
We’re now joined by Julia, her mother, Michelle. And in our audience is Dr. Seckin. Thank you all for what you’re doing. Fascinating surgery to watch. The most important thing, Julia, is how are you feeling?

Julia:
I’m feeling a lot better and I’m not in pain every day anymore. My legs don’t hurt, my back doesn’t hurt. I can tolerate my period. I’m not missing school. My grades are better. So, I’ve been feeling better [crosstalk 00:03:15].

Speaker 1:
Good for you.

Speaker 7:
And Dr. Seckin, we saw that you did all of this endoscopically, which is a relatively newer way to do this. I mean, years ago you would have had to do a completely different approach, correct?

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
That’s correct. In fact, in open surgery, we couldn’t see these lesions at all. Laparoscopy brings it at least 10 to 20 times enlargement of the area that you are looking at.

Speaker 7:
And what is the prognosis for her?

Dr. Tamer Seckin:
As you could see, I put in contrast behind those layers. I was able to remove approximately more than, in her case, I think 12 lesions. Six of them came positive for endo and the rest was all inflammation. So endometriosis is a disease of inflammation. It has unfortunately, it affects the whole body [crosstalk 00:04:06].

Speaker 1:
By getting rid of those lesions you found, you’re getting rid of all that inflammation that was leading to all that debilitating pain. I mean, clearly this is not a simple fix for anyone, but in someone in Julia’s case, sort of a last resort. I want to ask you, mom, what’s it like to see your daughter smiling again?

Michele:
Oh my Gosh. I noticed a difference in her personality right away. She’s much happier. She is just so much more pleasant. She hasn’t complained about leg pain or back pain, which is so different because she’s been suffering for so many years.

Speaker 1:
And it hearkens back to you were talking about your book, Live Happy, that you contributed to. It’s really hard to live happy when you’re living your life in pain. I’m just so glad, Julia, that you found some relief here with this surgery. Thank you for [crosstalk 00:04:54].

Julia:
Thank you.

Speaker 1:
Certainly a huge thank you to Dr. Seckin for all your help. More to come.

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