- After her excision surgery her bone pain around the pelvis stopped.
- Her severe pain is now almost unnoticeable.
- 20 + plus years of pain led her to Dr Kyriakopoulos who saved her kidney and made her feel as if she was born again.
- The neglect from doctors in her past was replaced by care and attention from Marina, our nurse, who held her hands during the first visit to the toilet after surgery because she was scared, and the rest of our team.
In medical books endometriosis is a disease of fertile age, a disease that is caused by retrograde menstruation and the cure for it is to remove organs that have nothing to do with its appearance.
Despoina, a 35 year old is one of many endometriosis sufferers operated on by Dr Kyriakopoulos, who has been through a lot. After her excision surgery, Despoina can smile again.
Her pain started from a young age and her family did anything they could to help her.
Her symptoms started with her first period and although many endometriosis sufferers are told that is normal to be in pain, Despoina was lucky to have a family that took her pain seriously.
10 gynaecologists didn’t believe she has endometriosis
“I was lucky because although I did not know that I was suffering from this disease, but because my mother was also in pain at a younger age, my family immediately understood that I was suffering and tried with whatever means were available at the time to relieve my pain”.
Almost 20 years later she got her diagnosis
All over the world there is a delay in diagnosis. Many endometriosis sufferers go through years of suffering until they receive their diagnosis. For Despoina her diagnosis came 20 years later after her symptoms began. And this after she pushed to receive a diagnosis.
“ I had to push to be diagnosed. Although I learnt to tolerate the pain, with each period my pain would increase. It was getting more and more intense. I demanded that my gynaecologist at the time examine me and he refused because he didn’t think I was in enough pain to have endometriosis. Then I started to get more persistent and then I got the answer”.
One disease multiple symptoms and severe pain
For Despoina the pain was so strong that made her lose her mind. She tried everything under the sun, but nothing worked. Every day her pain grew in intensity. The older she got, the better she understood her body and she knew something was wrong.
“I felt like I had fire in my stomach and my bones were breaking, making my life difficult. I couldn’t tell if the pain was from the ovary or the uterus or even the guts. It was like everything was together”.
A disease that affects 10% of the population born with a uterus and yet very few doctors know how to treat it
Despite her severe pain no doctor took her seriously. They told her she is hyper and to take painkillers. Some said to get pregnant, so that her pains would go away. After her diagnosis she was put on hormonal medication to stop her periods. It did nothing for her pain. This was the paint that made her want to research more about endometriosis.
After years of neglect she finally found someone who believed her
“I am grateful to Dr Dinos. Because finally someone believed me and bent over my problem to find a solution. With his knowledge and the way he explained to me, he made everything clear in my eyes. He was by my side when I called him, when I messaged him, when I explained to him how I felt. A smile and I believe you, were so strong that I knew I finally found my doctor.”
Despoina can now smile again
After surgery she started seeing improvements soon. Her pelvic bone pain was gone. She does not need to take any strong painkillers. She finally found a team that cared for her.
“I just felt that they cared about me and believed in me. My paramedic who told me jokes all the time, my Marina who held my hand during my first visit to the toilet after surgery because I was scared, my anesthesiologist who calmed me down and protected me during the surgery and of course my Dino. With his magical hands he healed my body and soul. He protected my one kidney and reborn me”.
