My Story

Hello, my name is Tahlia, I am 21 and have been dealing with chronic pain and sickness with my periods since I was around 13. The first time I remember having a horrid period was January 3rd I believe, 2011. The pain meds did nothing, I couldn't keep anything down and then couldn't stop heaving (since my stomach was empty). I remember sitting in the waiting room with my mom holding the puke bucket just wanting the pain to be gone, or at least subside. When I finally got the Vicoden I was met with a doctor acting as if I'd had a miscarriage (even though I told him that was impossible). In my mid-late teens I was first told I most likely didn't have endo and then about a year ago was told that it was highly likely I did but that there was no  sure way of knowing, even with surgery, and no cure.  I was told my best bet was hormones and/or birth control which is known to help the pain but can disrupts the female system and would quite possibly make things much worse. This left me feeling broken and hopeless. I had been seeing a naturopath who put me on an anti-inflammatory diet that helped curb the consistently horrible spells month after month (I can stay in bed taking lots of Advil and be okay after three or four days) but even with the diet (I still get random times where it's as bad as the 2011 incident) it still disrupts my life.  I have missed events, before graduating missed a lot of school, work, and have been unable to pursue the careers I want since regular attendance to a steady job has been a difficulty. Early this year I got reconnected with a friend who also had endo among other issues with little help from mainstream doctors. She found Vital Health Endometriosis Center in Los Gatos, California and highly recommended it to me as it has changed her life. 


 Why Dr. Cook?

Dr.  Andrew Cook M.D. is a highly credentialed expert in endometriosis treatment and women's health and founder of Vital Health Endometrisis Center. After reviewing my medical history and hearing my story he is 98 - 99% sure I have endometrisis. He assured me I can get surgery with him that will be a thorough removal of the endo like a cancer (as oppose to burning away the surface and leaving the roots). This is called excision surgery, done through laparascopy, and has proved highly successful in curing an impressive amount of women from this supposedly incurable disease. Dr. Cook's treatment includes care through the combination of surgical treatment and holistic healing. He searches thoroughly through the pelvis searching for anywhere endo may be which can be places other than the womb (a hysterectomy is not a cure for endo). He also searches for other problems/conditions that may be causing the pelvic pain along with or instead of endometriosis. It is for these reasons it is important to have an experienced surgeon and Dr. Cook has been working with this disease and similar consitions for over twenty-five years. This is what I have hoped was available and I am overjoyed that it is. I plan to move forward in getting the surgery from him and Lord willing be free from this bond. My goal is to set an appoitment in late August.


Why so expensive? What about insurance?


In short, endometriosis is a complex disease and unfortunately most insurance companies, no matter how good, will give little to nothing to cover treatment costs. Because of this, Vital Health Center must require their patients to pay upfront.
For further information answering the insurance question refer to the beginning of an article at the very bottom of this page  from Vital Health's insurance specialist Michelle Waterstreet.


What will this amount cover?

$12,000 upfront fees
 to Vital Health Center (includes $1,000 to set appointment)
$6,000 for El Camino Hospital bills 
$800 transportation, housing, food


More info:
To find out what endometriosis is, more about Dr. Cook, and the Vital Health Center visit: www.vitalhealth.com 
To check out my Etsy store where I sell crochet roses to raise funds and awareness for endo search "Haakleva" (under shops) on www.etsy.com 

I am hosting an arts benefit this Saturday (July 7th) to raise funds and awareness! You can check out the Facebook event page here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/202099810425433/?ti=cl

Thank you all so much for those who have supported me already through giving and prayers. I can't express how thankful I am to have such hope and support in something I felt was taking over my life. I believe God's will will be done and whatever happens I thank Him.

My last requests would be that if you can give even a couple dollars that would help so much, and if you cannot support financially I ask for the prayers! And finally, share this with someone, not only for my sake but for someone who may need this information that there is hope for those who struggle with pelvic pain.

God bless you all!
-Tahlia 

Paragraph from Michelle Waterstreet:
 "Why doesn’t my insurance cover my excision surgery with Dr. Cook? I have really good insurance!"
Insurance companies do not recognize wide excision surgery done by a high-volume specialist because it is grouped together in a CPT code with two other types of surgeries  - fulguration and ablation – each of which take little to no skill or effort to perform. Specialists who perform wide excision surgery at a high volume – i.e. they do on average 12 of these surgeries a month – are also trained in identification of endometriosis that regular ob-gyn’s may not.Unfortunately it doesn’t matter how “good” your insurance is.  Insurance companies do not recognize the difference in the types of surgery (i.e. fulguration vs. wide excision) or the difference in technical skill and the advanced training Dr. Cook has, and so they claim they do not pay for it.  Because of this, the amounts insurance companies pay for wide excision can be literally pennies on the dollar. Insurance companies are non-transparent, for-profit organizations.  They are trying to find all the ways they can to not pay claims and will use obscure language, confusing terms and many other tactics and techniques to avoid paying for anything out-of-network.
To contact Michelle for further questions call: (408) [phone redacted]