
02/22/2018
I credit Dr. Del Junco and his dedicated staff with saving the quality of my life from complete obliteration.
A painful condition called adenomyosis,18 fibroid tumors and one large uterine cyst had been making me absolutely miserable for over 4 years. For 3 weeks out of every month, I was in pain to the point where I often could not get off the sofa to go to work. Upon getting my period, I was going through a super tampon every hour, and bleeding for over 9 days each period. I would have about 4-5 days of mild relief before the cycles of pain started all over again. I spent countless hours on the sofa with heat on my belly, and I was taking Aleve and Motrin so much that I had developed gastritis. I became famous for cancelling plans, because my symptoms were so sporadic and extreme. I was really depressed, because my life had become one long, endless road of miserable moments.
My gynecologist, who is incidentally the Director of the Fibroid Clinic at UCSF, spent 3 years telling me that fibroids don't cause pain. Then, after practically being forced to order me an MRI (to convince her I needed one took 3 years), she told me that the only way to eliminate my pain was to remove my uterus.
I found Dr. Del Junco through a Google search, but was very skeptical. After speaking with his staff at length, and asking so many questions that I'm sure Patricia was ready to strangle me, I decided to keep my uterus and have this surgery.
I never looked back. The surgery was much easier than I expected (at least for me; I'm sure Dr. Del Junco might disagree), and I only had to take a painkiller for the first day. After that, I took Aleve twice a day for a week. After the first week, I didn't have to take anything. I almost immediately felt better, and I cannot believe I lived with so much pain for so long, when I could have just had this surgery. It's been 4 months since my surgery, and I can honestly say that I have not felt this good in over 15 years.
If you are hesitating, DON'T. If you are in pain all of the time, with a distended belly, weight gain and horrible menstrual periods, do whatever you need to do to get in for this surgery. I assure you, you will NOT be sorry. Dr. Del Junco's nurse and program coordinator, Patricia Burke, is a total peach. She will do anything in her power to make this surgery affordable for you. She covered every detail with me regarding both the procedure and the billing, so in the end, there were absolutely no surprises.
As a side, Dr. Del Junco's entire staff is outstanding. He's a warm, caring human being with a great bedside manner, and so are his other attending doctors. He hand picks each one, and it is clear that he is on a mission to give women better options to hysterectomy. Your gynecologist won't do this surgery, because he/she CAN'T do this surgery without specialized training in vascular, bloodless surgery. Do yourself a favor and follow the road less traveled. The more of these surgeries Dr. Del Junco does, the more likely women in the future will have this as a paid alternative to hysterectomy.