Think twice about going to Dr. Gehring if you have endometriosis. I saw Dr. Gehring for 14-plus years and thought he was a great, thorough doctor. He’s friendly, and I even referred him to friends and family. I felt safe under his care. Well, I went for my annual exam one day where, at first, Gehring said all was good. But then I told him about a feeling I was getting during sex, so he checked again. After the second exam, a nodule was found and I was told I needed surgery ASAP. During that surgery is when Dr. Gehring found endometriosis. The endo was elsewhere (that Gehring removed), but it had also showed up on my bowels (pouch of Douglas) and was shaved off laparoscopically by a colorectal surgeon that Dr. Gehring recommended. At the time, I knew virtually nothing about endo and had no idea it could eventually come back. Dr. Gehring never advised me that it could come back, and at every subsequent, annual appointment after surgery, said everything looked good.
I thought everything… was okay.
2.5 years after surgery to remove the endo from my bowels, I started burping all the time, very gassy, and felt extremely bloated. I thought I had IBS. Again, not thinking anything about endo. When I started having extreme pain and blood in my stool, I went to my primary care doctor who I knew could refer me to a gastroenterologist. After all, a gastroenterologist is what I thought I needed to see. When I told her about my symptoms, she was the one who suggested it could be endometriosis, but that I needed to get a colonoscopy. Before that appointment with my primary care, I had seen Dr. Gehring a few months prior and he never once mentioned endometriosis. It was like he didn’t pick up on the fact that the endometriosis could be coming back!
I had a colonoscopy and it showed a mass in my rectum. I spent 2 grueling weeks waiting on the results as the docs had never seen anything like it, and finally ruled out colon cancer. It was endo. A later MRI would show just how big the mass was.
Long story short, I ended up needing a colon resection, my rectum was reconstructed, and I had an ileostomy bag placed on my abdomen (small intestine) for 2 eye-opening months. I also had a total hysterectomy. The endo had actually dragged one of my ovaries into my rectum! In this surgery, 3 surgeons operated, including a gynecological oncologist, because my new OB/GYN felt it was too risky to do the hysterectomy because of how extensive the endometriosis was.
So after 2 life changing, challenging months, I had the bag surgically removed (called an ostomy takedown) and after about a month, was able to defecate on my own again, but to this day it’s hard. It’s a struggle every day.
Dr. Gehring, knowing that endo was on my bowels, should have been monitoring that closely EVERY YEAR, if not every 6 months, via colonoscopy, MRI, whatever, to see if it was coming back. I should have absolutely been told there was a chance it could come back. Had I known that, when I FIRST started having gastrointestinal issues, I would’ve known it could be endo and wouldn’t have been put in the life-threatening position I was ultimately in.
My new gynecologist, thank God, educated me about endo, and I have since done extensive research on the subject.
Now I have an educated, thorough, amazing colorectal surgeon who monitors me closely, and ANY signs of endo rearing its ugly head again, he’s on it.
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