Patient Experiences
The Center for Complex Abdominal and Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CAPPS) has a long history of helping people learn to manage and overcome their pain. We offer the latest leading edge treatments, delivered by a medical team of doctors and nurses who specialize in treating CAPPS.
Share Your Own Story
If you’ve been a patient at the center and want to share your own story with others to serve as a source of inspiration and hope, we want to hear from you!
My Experience By Summer Grage, White River, South Dakota
Since I was a teenager I have struggled to find a true quality of life. I have been to doctor after doctor and I have heard it all. I’ve been told surgery will fix me, that I have phantom pain, that I am imagining all my symptoms, that there is nothing wrong with me, and on and on it went for years. I have dealt with endometriosis, ovarian cysts, adhesions, and have had my bowels completely quit working on me. Of course, there has been severe pelvic pain, lower back pain, lots of narcotics, and so many tests I can’t even remember them all. I have had several surgeries over the years, but never thought I would truly feel good again.
My name is Summer and I am from South Dakota. After years of trying to feel better I was losing hope that I could ever regain a true quality of life. I had gone through a few surgeries with only temporary relief. At the age of 20 I was told a total abdominal hysterectomy would solve all my problems, but to my doctors amazement I still only had temporary relief. I still had the severe, disabling pelvic pain and my bowels were not working at all. So by now I was dependent on laxatives to have a bowel movement and most days struggled to get out of bed even though I am a very active person. My doctors had given up on me and they thought I was crazy. I even went to the Mayo Clinic twice and they said there was nothing that could be done to help me. I went to many specialists, physical therapists, chiropractors, dieticians, nutritionists, and the list goes on. My mom started researching on the internet and found Dr. Harry Reich in New York. I had surgery with him in the Cayman Islands and I had great results. My deep pelvic pain from the endometriosis has been gone every since. In the years following this surgery my bowels slowly returned to not working. I had surgery once again to remove adhesions from my sigmoid colon, but I got no relief after the surgery as my bowels still did not work. I was once again dependent on laxatives and my health was quickly deteriorating. I had edema in my feet and legs, was often short of breath, always exhausted, breaking out in hives, and was just struggling to perform daily activities. I returned to the Mayo Clinic and after two weeks of tests I was told I had pelvic floor dysfunction and my only hope was physical therapy. I was so terribly sick and literally fighting to survive so I called Dr. Reich and he referred me to Dr. Redan.
I traveled to Florida to meet Dr. Redan and have surgery with him. Dr. Redan and his staff were awesome! Everyone was so nice and professional and they actually cared about me as a person. Dr. Redan was so confident, calm, and willing to help me that I was shocked. After years of surgeries, pain, misery, and doctors who would not listen to me I had finally found someone who believed they could help me. Before I arrived Dr. Redan had read through my records and when I met with him he already knew what he needed to do. He listened to me while I explained what I was going through, then he explained to me what he thought the problem was and how he could fix it. Dr. Redan planned to do a colon resection so laparoscopic surgery was scheduled for two days later. His staff was extremely efficient in getting everything set up, pre-approved, and ready for my surgery. Surgery went well and Dr. Redan removed a foot of my colon that was no longer working. I was discharged after two nights in the hospital and had a follow up visit a couple days later in his clinic. Dr. Redan was also sure that I had some food allergies contributing to my health problems and when the results came back he could not have been more right. He was the first doctor to ever mention the possibility of food allergies to me and I am grateful he did so. A week after surgery I returned to South Dakota. I was already feeling better and with each passing day I continue to improve. I have changed my diet to avoid the things I am allergic to and it has made all the difference in the world. My bowels went from not working at all to working like normal. For the first time in years I truly feel alive.
Dr. Redan has given me a second chance at life and I will forever be grateful to him. He is very wise, kind, caring, and by far one of the greatest physicians I have ever met. Everyday that goes by I feel better and I owe it all to Dr. Redan and his wonderful staff.
