How team-based endometriosis care restored a woman’s quality of life

By the time she was in high school, Tamara Truta Amizic, now 48, had become adept at coping with pelvic pain, which began shortly after her first menstrual cycle.

“I was an athlete growing up, and I learned ways to suppress the pain, or not pay too much attention to it,” she says.

Years went by, and despite seeking medical advice and undergoing a small handful of polypectomies—surgical procedures to remove abnormal growths—a diagnosis remained elusive.

Then in 2022, while on vacation, Tamara and her family developed a severe case of food poisoning. While her family was able to make a full recovery, Tamara could not.

“When I returned home, I was having all these adverse reactions to food,” she says. “I had diarrhea and couldn’t eat much of anything without vomiting. I lost 30 pounds in just two months. There was just no ignoring the pain I was in anymore.”

She sought answers from specialists who “ran every test on this planet,” she says.

Finally, an MRI showed what other tests hadn’t: stage 4 endometriosis.

Affecting one in every 10 women of reproductive age, endometriosis is a chronic and progressive disorder in which the uterine lining grows outside the uterus and onto nearby organ structures like the ovaries and colon.

This overgrowth and ensuing inflammation and scar tissue often results in a host of symptoms, including chronic pelvic pain, urinary dysfunction, painful periods, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and infertility.

In Tamara’s case, endometriosis had impacted her uterosacral ligaments, which are the strong bands of connective tissue responsible for keeping the uterus in place. This resulted in additional symptoms like lower back, hip and leg pain, as well as leg numbness in later stages.

Despite the millions who suffer, endometriosis is frequently misdiagnosed, with many women told their symptoms are related to gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or ulcerative colitis. Some are told they simply suffer from unusually painful menstrual cycles.

And others are told that they must learn to live with the pain.

Following her diagnosis, Tamara sought advice from multiple providers in Orange County, eventually meeting with Hoag gynecologist Dr. Marie-Claire Leaf.

“What set Hoag apart was that physicians from multiple specialties were really working together to come up with a care plan on my behalf,” Tamara says.

The first hospital in the Western United States to be designated a Center of Excellence in Multidisciplinary Endometriosis Care by the Surgical Review Corporation, Hoag brings together experts across gynecology, colorectal surgery, fertility, imaging, pain management, pelvic floor therapy, gastroenterology, urology, and other specialties to deliver coordinated care tailored to each patient.

For Tamara, whose advanced-stage endometriosis had impacted both her reproductive organs and bowels, this level of coordination became essential to her care.

Dr. Leaf connected her with a Hoag colorectal surgeon. After carefully weighing her options, Tamara decided to undergo a hysterectomy and bowel resection, two procedures that were successfully completed by Dr. Leaf and the colorectal surgeon in the same day.

“We often coordinate and complete the surgeries together, so the patient doesn’t have to contend with two separate surgeries and recoveries,” Dr. Leaf says.

Since her surgeries earlier this year, Tamara says “I’m doing great.” As part of her recovery, she is participating in physical therapy through Hoag’s Pelvic Health Program. She is also working closely with Dr. Stephanie De Silva Davis, Hoag’s Sexual and Hormonal Health Program Advisor, as she embarks on menopause following her hysterectomy.

“Endometriosis isn’t always taken as seriously as it needs to be, and the right care is essential,” she says. “At Hoag, I found a team of people who listened and worked together to provide me with the very best solutions, and that has made all the difference.”

Learn more about Hoag’s endometriosis program.