Help Bridget with surgery cost for Endometriosis
Donation protected
I have been struggling with endometriosis for the past 18 years…
Endometriosis is “a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain.”
This is my testimony and why I am asking my friends and family to help fund my surgery.
My period started in 5th grade, and with that came pain like I had never experienced before. Crippling pain, heavy bleeding, lying in fetal position for many hours in tears praying for the pain to stop. By 8th grade, I was having to call out of school because I couldn't get out of bed. For many years I was told to "get over it", I was told it was a part of "being a woman", I was told it was just "period pain". No one took me seriously, everyone told me I was being dramatic. The first gynecologist I went to was in 8th grade, he did not take me seriously when I told him how much pain I was in, his solution was to put me on birth control pills. Birth control suppressed the pain for a while, but the pills made me sick, and I eventually stopped taking it until I was offered other forms of birth control that did not have to be taken orally. Birth control does not solve the problem, it just helps manage the severity of the pain by preventing you from having a period. I have officially been on birth control continuously for the past 12 years and I have seen 7 different gynecologists over the years, every time I met my new doctor, I would cry to them trying to explain the pain I was in. Every doctor I saw would start first by testing me for STDs and when those results came back negative they would then look at my reproductive organs via ultrasound and after they found nothing in the scans, their solution would be to put me on a different form of birth control. From many different BC pills to the Nuva ring, to Nexplanon implanted in my arm, to currently an IUD, I have been on it all and the pain not only remains consistent but has gotten worse over the years as the endometriosis has spread and grown. There were times in my life when even birth control couldn't stop my menstruation, I would bleed for weeks at a time and by college, the pain was so bad I contemplated ending my life because I felt unheard, unseen, and was in constant pain daily with no hope or solution. In the year 2015, I moved to Atlanta, and I finally met a female doctor who believed me when I explained how much pain I was in, I had already come to the conclusion that endometriosis was possibly what I had, (based on all my symptoms and research on the internet) and she was able to agree that was likely the case, but the thing about endometriosis is that it cannot be picked up on ultrasounds or tested for, as of now it can only be determined through laparoscopy. She proceeded to tell me that even if I got the surgery, the chances of it coming back in a few years were high and I should just wait to have the surgery closer to when I am ready to have children. The only thing she could offer as a solution was once again birth control and she did offer mild pain pills, which I refused due to my fear of becoming addicted to pills, so instead, I was prescribed a high dosage of ibuprofen. Attending GA state, I met two girls in my Interior Design program who also had endometriosis and through my friendship with them, I was able to feel validated for once and know I wasn't alone when it came to this disease. One of my friends/classmates had already had a surgery and within a year was experiencing pain again, which honestly made me feel hopeless... It was not until I discovered The Center For Endometriosis Care and met Dr. Ken Sinervo that I felt my sense of hope come back, the hope that maybe one day I could wake up pain-free and go about my day without bending over in pain. Dr. Sinervo has dedicated his life to this disease and women from all over the world fly in to Atlanta, Georgia to have him perform the surgery. He uses a laser for excision whereas most surgeons (due to lack of knowledge, education, and training) only offer ablative procedures. Ablative procedures, like the one my friend had, has a 60-80% chance of coming back whereas the laser excision has less than 10% of a recurrence. I met with Dr. Ken Sinervo on March 16th of 2021, he listened to my medical history, he apologized for everything I had been through, he saw the pain in my eyes as I explained how I felt ignored and overlooked by doctors over the many years and most importantly he acknowledge my pain. He explained how he performs his surgery, his success rate, the reason why he is different from the rest, he was full of knowledge and detail and confidence about everything regarding the disease. He was humble, compassionate, and I felt as if he truly cared about me as a human vs all the other doctors I had seen over the years who treated me as just the next person they needed to get in and out of the door. I knew as soon as our conversation ended that he was the only one I felt safe with performing my surgery. I had found my hope, found my doctor, and the next thing to tackle was the American Health Insurance System. Due to this being a specialized disease, The Center for Endometriosis Care is an out-of-network provider with all insurance companies. During this time, my insurance only covered in-network and I knew I would have to wait until the first of the year to start a new plan where insurance could cover some of my surgery. In December of 2021, I changed my Blue Cross Blue Shield to cover out-of-network as well as in-network and requested a new quote hoping my upfront cost would go down some. Unfortunately, that was not the case, due to BCBS being known for "historically not paying well". Therefore discovering last week I will have to pay 9k upfront before my surgery, $500 to schedule the date, $8,500 to be paid in full at my pre-op appointment... I have to admit, when I read the quote I started crying, I knew as someone living paycheck to paycheck, I would not be able to afford it on my own, which leads me to here, creating a go fund me during Endometriosis Awareness Month, in hope that those reading this are able to donate what they can, even if it is $5, or to just share this so it can spread across as many platforms as possible. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you to those who have supported me throughout the years and believed my pain. (I attached my quote below because I prefer to be as transparent as possible with the pricing)
Endometriosis is “a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain.”
This is my testimony and why I am asking my friends and family to help fund my surgery.
My period started in 5th grade, and with that came pain like I had never experienced before. Crippling pain, heavy bleeding, lying in fetal position for many hours in tears praying for the pain to stop. By 8th grade, I was having to call out of school because I couldn't get out of bed. For many years I was told to "get over it", I was told it was a part of "being a woman", I was told it was just "period pain". No one took me seriously, everyone told me I was being dramatic. The first gynecologist I went to was in 8th grade, he did not take me seriously when I told him how much pain I was in, his solution was to put me on birth control pills. Birth control suppressed the pain for a while, but the pills made me sick, and I eventually stopped taking it until I was offered other forms of birth control that did not have to be taken orally. Birth control does not solve the problem, it just helps manage the severity of the pain by preventing you from having a period. I have officially been on birth control continuously for the past 12 years and I have seen 7 different gynecologists over the years, every time I met my new doctor, I would cry to them trying to explain the pain I was in. Every doctor I saw would start first by testing me for STDs and when those results came back negative they would then look at my reproductive organs via ultrasound and after they found nothing in the scans, their solution would be to put me on a different form of birth control. From many different BC pills to the Nuva ring, to Nexplanon implanted in my arm, to currently an IUD, I have been on it all and the pain not only remains consistent but has gotten worse over the years as the endometriosis has spread and grown. There were times in my life when even birth control couldn't stop my menstruation, I would bleed for weeks at a time and by college, the pain was so bad I contemplated ending my life because I felt unheard, unseen, and was in constant pain daily with no hope or solution. In the year 2015, I moved to Atlanta, and I finally met a female doctor who believed me when I explained how much pain I was in, I had already come to the conclusion that endometriosis was possibly what I had, (based on all my symptoms and research on the internet) and she was able to agree that was likely the case, but the thing about endometriosis is that it cannot be picked up on ultrasounds or tested for, as of now it can only be determined through laparoscopy. She proceeded to tell me that even if I got the surgery, the chances of it coming back in a few years were high and I should just wait to have the surgery closer to when I am ready to have children. The only thing she could offer as a solution was once again birth control and she did offer mild pain pills, which I refused due to my fear of becoming addicted to pills, so instead, I was prescribed a high dosage of ibuprofen. Attending GA state, I met two girls in my Interior Design program who also had endometriosis and through my friendship with them, I was able to feel validated for once and know I wasn't alone when it came to this disease. One of my friends/classmates had already had a surgery and within a year was experiencing pain again, which honestly made me feel hopeless... It was not until I discovered The Center For Endometriosis Care and met Dr. Ken Sinervo that I felt my sense of hope come back, the hope that maybe one day I could wake up pain-free and go about my day without bending over in pain. Dr. Sinervo has dedicated his life to this disease and women from all over the world fly in to Atlanta, Georgia to have him perform the surgery. He uses a laser for excision whereas most surgeons (due to lack of knowledge, education, and training) only offer ablative procedures. Ablative procedures, like the one my friend had, has a 60-80% chance of coming back whereas the laser excision has less than 10% of a recurrence. I met with Dr. Ken Sinervo on March 16th of 2021, he listened to my medical history, he apologized for everything I had been through, he saw the pain in my eyes as I explained how I felt ignored and overlooked by doctors over the many years and most importantly he acknowledge my pain. He explained how he performs his surgery, his success rate, the reason why he is different from the rest, he was full of knowledge and detail and confidence about everything regarding the disease. He was humble, compassionate, and I felt as if he truly cared about me as a human vs all the other doctors I had seen over the years who treated me as just the next person they needed to get in and out of the door. I knew as soon as our conversation ended that he was the only one I felt safe with performing my surgery. I had found my hope, found my doctor, and the next thing to tackle was the American Health Insurance System. Due to this being a specialized disease, The Center for Endometriosis Care is an out-of-network provider with all insurance companies. During this time, my insurance only covered in-network and I knew I would have to wait until the first of the year to start a new plan where insurance could cover some of my surgery. In December of 2021, I changed my Blue Cross Blue Shield to cover out-of-network as well as in-network and requested a new quote hoping my upfront cost would go down some. Unfortunately, that was not the case, due to BCBS being known for "historically not paying well". Therefore discovering last week I will have to pay 9k upfront before my surgery, $500 to schedule the date, $8,500 to be paid in full at my pre-op appointment... I have to admit, when I read the quote I started crying, I knew as someone living paycheck to paycheck, I would not be able to afford it on my own, which leads me to here, creating a go fund me during Endometriosis Awareness Month, in hope that those reading this are able to donate what they can, even if it is $5, or to just share this so it can spread across as many platforms as possible. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you to those who have supported me throughout the years and believed my pain. (I attached my quote below because I prefer to be as transparent as possible with the pricing)
Organizer
Bridget Buff
Organizer
Mableton, GA