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My second hometown “Tsuchiura”

I had an operation in February, 2006.

I had been suffering from symptoms since I was diagnosed with endometriosis 5 years previously. It took more than 4 years for me to receive a diagnosis of adenomyosis.

I had been feeling very frustrated since I had this diagnosis. At every single hospital I visited, I was told that there was nothing they could do except to remove the entire uterus. Even at large hospitals, doctors told me the only course was complete removal.

It was a shock for me since I had been hoping for an operation without removing the organ. I visited hospitals that I had been told were good, and I felt that it was unfair to see that pregnant patients were always got priority to see doctors while I was vomiting due to horrible pain.

It was a friend gynecologist who told me about Kasumigaura Medical Center. I have always asked this friend for advice whenever I have problems. One day, she said “this is what you can do now!” and gave me information about the hospital. “You should go there as soon as possible”, she said, but I was very worried about the trip from Kobe.

I had never had a serious health problem before. Therefore, I had never thought about having a laparotomy (open surgery). I was still hoping that medication alone could cure this disease. For the next 8 months, I kept thinking about it and ended up being quite exhausted. I felt so stressed that I ripped my blanket and even developed severe back pain. I gradually stopped going to work and finally came to a conclusion. I thought I would do anything to avoid removal of my uterus so that I will be able to have a child in the future when I get married! I knew that the only thing that I could do was to listen to my friend and follow her advice.

I told my family that I would visit a hospital that was far away from home.

“No matter how far it is, you should go if they can treat you. I can come with you and support you if you want. You should take all opportunities, even surgery, if that will make you feel better”, my mother said. I felt very thankful. However, it was not that easy to ask for a referral letter from the previous hospital. The doctor who was in charge of me did not know anything about adenomyosis enucleation.

I made photocopies of all the contents of Kasumigaura Medical Center website and submitted them to the doctor. It took 2 months for him to understand what I meant. I visited the clinic so many times during these two months to explain the situation to the doctor. Having tried all kinds of medications, we both knew that the only option was to have open surgery. He eventually understood and wrote a referral letter for me. I was very happy.

I was finally able to visit the Kasumigaura Medical Center. The doctor was very nice and said with a smile that “we can treat you here”. His words truly made me feel happy. I thought about my sufferings of the past 5 years, and started to cry. I was surprised that we were even able to schedule the operation date on the first visit. He took into consideration that I came from Kobe and arranged for me to have the pre-operation examination on the same day. I just had to wait for the results of the examination and schedule for the operation. It was just like a dream.

The doctor explained carefully to me about my physical condition and described the operation. His attitude made me feel that I could trust him 100%. He gave the same explanation even to my mother, who had no clue at all, in a sincere and careful manner. Therefore we did not have any worries at all. My mother appreciated his attitude very much as well.

During my stay in hospital, I read a document called Clinical Pass provided by a hospital that provided very clear explanation. This was very helpful. The operation started without any problems and was over before I realized it. It took 2 hours and 47 minutes. When I woke up from the anesthetic, the doctor cheerfully said “it was very successful”. I thought it might be a joke and almost asked him “is it really finished?”

I regained my health now, and I feel thankful to everyone, including my friend. I appreciate very much now that I have a life without pain. I avoided sport activities for 2 months, but after that everything went back to normal without any difficulties. I rather regret that I didn’t listen to my gynecologist friend and did not have this operation earlier. It is one of my pleasures now to visit Tsuchiura for post-operational follow-ups.

Dr. Nishida, thank you very much for making me healthy again. I’m very surprised to know that the life without pain is so comfortable. I truly hope that many people suffering from adenomyosis will be saved soon.