Christine Reyes began having trouble with uterine fibroids in 2008. After an MRI was performed, she learned the mass was large and pressing on her bladder. Both Christine and her husband are physicians–she is a psychiatrist and her husband is a radiologist. Christine's husband knew about an interventional procedure called embolization that might help her, but Christine decided she would wait it out and just deal with the heavy bleeding during her periods. Her only other option was surgery–a hysterectomy–and she didn't want to lose her uterus or spend six weeks recuperating.
One of the biggest issues for Christine was bladder control. She would have to restrict her water intake for two hours while commuting to and from her job in New York City. In 2012, she began to do serious research about Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). It's a procedure performed by an interventional radiologist during which particles are injected through a catheter to stop the flow of blood to the fibroids, reducing them in size. The procedure was attractive to Christine. "I have a very demanding career and an active family life, I didn't want to spend a long time in the hospital and then weeks at home recovering," she says.
During Christine's research, she learned about Dr. John Rundback, an interventional radiologist at Holy Name Medical Center who has been performing UFE procedures for several years. After consulting with him, she felt confident that this was the doctor–and the procedure–that was right for her. "He is amazing. He met my expectations in every way," says Christine.
Her procedure took only about an hour to perform and she went home the same day. Christine was off of all pain medications in four days and back to work in one week. Christine feels every woman deserves to know she has better options to get rid of fibroids and get back her life. "I saw gynecologists for years and they never recommended embolization. More people should be aware of it," says Christine, "I want to help women save their uterus."
