Selina’s Story

Selina Regan:
Dr. Seckin was the first person to ever mention the word endometriosis to me. I was his patient. I was 20-probably-five at the time, and he had done part of his general introductory questions, asked me about my menstrual cycle and asked me if I had pain associated with it, and I said, “Oh course, doesn’t everybody?” And he asking a few additional questions, he basically said, “I think you may have endometriosis.” And I said, “I’ve never heard of that. I don’t know what that is.” I wasn’t interested in going any further because I just thought he was being a little off-base. He gave me some prescription for Anaprox, and I went on my way.

Selina Regan:
Fast forward a few years later. The pain got more intense to the point where… I was a practicing attorney at the time, I would literally organize, or try to organize, my deposition schedule and my court appearances around my period because I knew there would be at least one day of the month that I was going to be out of commission. So, I went back to Dr. Seckin and said, “Tell me a little more about this endometriosis thing. I think I am interested in getting that surgical treatment you had talked about.”

Selina Regan:
In just about nine years, I went back to Dr. Seckin and said, “Look, I think the endometriosis is back. I want to start trying to get pregnant. What do you think we do?” He said, “Let’s go and do another lap,” and I remember this day very vividly. We did the surgery. He called me afterward to tell me how it went and said to me it was back and it was very aggressive, and one of my tubes was very diseased and if he knew I wasn’t trying to have a baby he would’ve removed it. “But don’t worry, I think we still have a really good chance of getting you pregnant.”

Selina Regan:
Well, I hung up the phone and proceeded to cry. And my husband called and I told him the story, and he said, “Don’t worry. We’ll try.” And Dr. Seckin gave me three month post-surgery to get pregnant on my own before he was going to, given my age, push me to a fertility clinic.

Selina Regan:
I went into Dr. Seckin’s office saying, “I think I might be pregnant. I took a home pregnancy test.” And sure enough, he confirmed it. He gave me a high-five, and gave birth to my son at age 41.

Selina Regan:
So, the odds… I knew what the odds were. At 40, generically, your odds of getting pregnant are usually about five-percent any given month. With endometriosis, it takes it down to close to two-percent. Things happen for a reason, and I had a doctor who made a point to always bring it up to me, and I was the one, unlike a lot of women, I was like, “I’m fine. This is what women do, they have cramps every month. My mom had them. My grandmother had them. This is what women have.” If I was in another doctor’s care my chances of having my son would probably have been zero.

Selina Regan:
So, everyday I thank God that I had a doctor who was aware of the disease, who was aggressive about treating it, and aggressive about educating me, and who has really made an impact in my life in a profound way because I have this amazing little boy at 41 that I think the mainstream medical profession would’ve said no way, it’s not possible. But it is.

Selina Regan:
And just if you’re getting monthly pain it’s not normal. If you have to take narcotics in order to cope with your daily routine during your menstrual cycle, that’s not normal. My sister and I both thought that was normal. That’s not normal. And if that’s what you’re feeling every month, talk to your doctor, bring it up, and if your doctor doesn’t want to talk to you about it or dismisses it, find one who will. If you’re not getting pregnant and you’re trying, ask about endometriosis. People do hormone level tests, they do this, but the endometriosis treatment seems to get dismissed in the fertility mix.