An amazing day for Amy Roberts. [Cheers] >>Fantastic at was everything that I've ever hoped
and dreamed for. I've wanted to get married at the hotel Hershey since I was
a little girl so it was a dream come true.
>>Just to see her so happy and healthy and in such a good place and looking forward
to the start of her marriage and hopefully starting a family someday, it's
just a really exciting time for us as a family to watch it. >>An exciting time for
Amy and Dan, now, and for years to come. >>We would love to be parents one day not
something that were actively pursuing but you know we've talked about it and
it's definitely what we want to happen down the road. >>Amy wasn't sure a family
was even a possibility . >> I started having various symptoms when I was around 16.
It ranged in everything from really debilitating cramps, upset stomach, things
like that and we thought for the longest time that it was actually a digestive
issue. >>I was home for a break from school and just noticed her laying around a lot
and kind of seemed kind of sad and not herself and I just thought that that was
kind of odd for Amy because she's always so upbeat and happy and just ready to go.
>>Amy dealt with stomach cramps for a couple of years, until it became too much.
>>It would have been my senior year of high school, the fall, one day I woke up
and I couldn't get out of bed. I was in so much pain I couldn't stand up
straight and we went to the ER right after that, spent the whole day in the ER
at Hershey. At the end of that day the ER doctor came in, oddly enough I had a
kidney stone at that time as well but he had said you know based off your other
symptoms and the timing and everything he was like
you may have something called endometriosis. >>So endometriosis is when
the glands, the endometrial glands that a woman has when she would have her
period, that part that sheds out is called the endometrium. Those glands
instead of being on the inside and shedding out we have your period there
implants on the outside. Implants in places of the pelvis or in the abdomen,
places outside of, the out of the uterus. And those glands then will grow and
cause inflammation pain each month just like as a woman's having your period.
>>Spring of my senior year of high school was when I had my first surgery and he
was able to learn that I did have endometriosis and that kind of started
our game plan of how to kind of suppress the symptoms and make sure I could have
a good quality of life. >>The role of surgery can be multi-fold, it helps to confirm
the diagnosis and then it can also infer treatment. If you can remove the
endometriosis you can hopefully give them times and periods of relief. >>He was
able to prescribe me medication, like birth control, other various hormone
suppressing medications to try and help lessen those symptoms.
>>Amy did have some relief but a couple of years later, the symptoms returned.
>> I remember reaching out to Dr. Harkens and saying you know, it's the medications not
working. I didn't want to have to rely on pain medication to you know get me
through my day and he said you know I think based off of everything, it's time
to go ahead and schedule a second surgery. >>Surgery was scheduled on
Christmas Eve when Amy was home on break from college. >> I was still awake when I
rolled into OR and I remember just kind of laying there and looking around and it
was terrifying seeing everything around you and I remember Dr. Harkins
walking in, sorry, and he's singing Lady Gaga and I knew, I was gonna you know be
okay cuz that was that was who's gonna handle my surgery and he's making me
feel comfortable by dancing around the OR singing Lady Gaga. So, I knew I was
gonna be okay. Sorry. >> I try to always remember for every
patient it's this is it this is a huge moment. They are concerned that
something's going to come up that they're not going to have fertility,
they're not going to have good function in their life, they're young women, it's
important everyday that we take care of patients that we remember that. So, I'm
glad that was reassuring or positive for her. Because we try, you know, we try to
keep things positive. >> I remember Amy was just kind of bedridden at that point cuz
she had just had surgery and she was kind of missing out on all the fun stuff
you got to do with families over the holiday and that's when it really
clicked with me how serious this diagnosis is and that she was willing to
kind of throw away her Christmas vacation to recover from a surgery
because she was in so much pain and it gave her the relief that she needed.
>> I was symptom free for months. I felt like a normal person again.
>>Several years later, Amy was back at Penn State Health for surgery. >>They had just
gotten the DaVinci ,the robotic surgery system there and that was actually the
first time I had gotten surgery with that. >>We do use it for endometriosis
cases. A lot of endometriosis excision is about precision and trying to remove
active disease while maintaining normal Anatomy. >>So it's been almost six years
now since I've had one which is the longest I've gone between surgeries and
I've been like a whole new person since that time. Amy's done great to have all
this time to do so well and that's fantastic! That's what we want.
>>Amy can't thank Dr. Harkins enough for all he has done for her now and in the
future. >>He truly cares about your life and what you want and it's nice knowing
someone that will preserve that for you and take your thoughts into
consideration about your own health. I was able to have a pain-free wedding day
which was wonderful.