Georgia mom, teen undergo same surgery for endometriosis

CARROLLTON, Ga. - Sophie Allred, now 14, has spent the last couple of years living with endometriosis, a painful gynecologic disease other people can't see. The Carroll County teen had periods that were so heavy and painful, and cramping so severe, she would miss school.

"At some point I kind of thought, like, 'Maybe I'm just making it up, and maybe it's not as bad as they think,' Allred says.

But Sophie's mom Lindsay knew her pain was real, because she, too, has endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the kind that lines the uterus, grows outside the uterus, causing lesions that can triggering pelvic pain, infertility, and other problems.

Lindsay Allred says she also began experiencing symptoms as a teenager, and it took her more than a decade to get diagnosed.

"We knew that the longer you have endometriosis, the more kind of destruction is going on inside your body," she says.

Dr. Kenny Sinervo is a gynecologic surgeon at Northside Hospital and an expert in endometriosis, which he says, can be debilitating.

"It can eventually evolve into a situation where a patient is having pain all the time, 24/7," Sinervo says.  "Unfortunately, a lot of patients get dismissed and gaslit, where they say,'Well, that's just normal. You kind of got to get used to it.'"

But Dr. Sinervo says endometriosis does not just cause painful periods, it can affect the bowels and bladder, sometimes causing obstructions.

"Some people can't leave their homes because of worried about problems with their bowels after they eat certain foods," he says.

Both Sophie and her mom were put on birth control, the first line of treatment, which they say did not help.

"If they have failed that, then the next step should be a laparoscopy," Dr. Sinervo says.

There are two laparoscopic approaches : ablating, or burning off the endometrial tissue, or excising it, cutting it out.

The Allreds both chose laparoscopic excision, or LAPEX surgery, in which Dr. Sinervo cut out the endometrial tissue using a CO2 laser.

"So, instead of a 60% chance of the disease recurring within the first year or two, it's less than 5 or 10% over the next 20 years in those patients for the most part," Sinervo says.

He compares the two techniques to cutting back a tree stump.

"You cut it down to the ground, that's basically what you're doing with an ablative surgery," Sinervo says. "However, when it comes to excision, what I'm doing is, I'm cutting out the whole root of the disease."

The Allreds say LAPEX surgery helped.

And Lindsay Allred hopes parents, school nurses, and pediatricians will listen and consider endometriosis, when young women say they are experiencing pelvic pain.

"Just believe when somebody tells you, 'This is what's going on with me," she says.  "Just believe it. Look for answers. Advocate for yourself, for your child, for you know, your patient. Don't stop until you find what really helps."