Recommended Doctor
Michael Jay ZINAMAN MD
Obstetrics & Gynecology - Illinois Maywood

I've had a hysterectomy & the doctor has moved out of the area where I live, so I'm no longer his patient.

When I found Dr Zinaman, I'd given up. I didn't think the pain would ever stop, and the near constant bleeding had me too exhausted to think straight. I didn't want surgery because the previous surgeries had not helped; it had taken three surgeries to even diagnose endometriosis and the last surgeon had told me she'd cured me so my symptoms could not be from endometriosis. (I bled heavily for ten days, and my periods started every 22-23 days. Ovulation was agony and ovarian cysts burst at least once a week.)

After seeing me for about six months, Dr Z said he really needed to perform a laparoscope to see if I really was in as much pain as I claimed (or if I was just seeking attention). My best friend accompanied me to the surgery and said when Dr Z was very angry when he came out of the OR. (I was, needless to say, out of it and remember little.)

On my follow-up appointment, Dr Z apologized for any doubts he'd had about whether I was truly in pain. He said he was impressed that I could walk at all and had some uncomplimentary things to say about my previous surgeon as well. (She is a quack, despite local publications listing her as the best OB/GYN in DC.) Dr Z showed me photos he'd taken of the lesions before he lysed them and that was sobering. It was also a relief to know that the pain was real and that this doctor believed me and would be able to help.

The next year, Dr Z performed a laparotomy (bikini cut major surgery) and two weeks after the surgery, I felt ready to go back to work. (After too many surgeries, I knew better and took six weeks off to recover fully.)

Because I found Dr Z so late in the disease process, the endometriosis returned soon after he'd moved from DC, where I lived, to Chicago. There was too much damage to continue the nightmare of surgery every 18 months, so I went ahead and had a hysterectomy/oophrectomy.

Had I found Dr Z years earlier, I expect things would have been much different and my life much easier. (I've got systemic lupus & fibromyalgia, so things wouldn't have been rosy, but better.)

I realize that only a few women are in the Chicago area. My recommendation for other women is to look for a specialist in infertility, because endometriosis is one of the leading causes of infertility and those OB/GYNs know more about endometriosis than other GYNs (who know almost nothing).