COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — Alexis Roderick Joel suffered from pain and a series of misdiagnoses when her endometriosis symptoms heightened after the birth of her second child. Now, she’s using her platform to advocate for women’s health and prevent others from going through the same challenges.
“I was diagnosed with acid reflux, IBS, I was told there was nothing wrong with me,” Roderick Joel, 43, said Wednesday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Seckin Endometriosis Research Center for Women’s Health in Cold Spring Harbor.
Endometriosis, a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, has a litany of symptoms that include excruciating pain in the abdomen, severe cramps, heavy periods and infertility.
“Everyone that I’ve met through this, they typically suffered,” Roderick Joel, wife of famed musician Billy Joel, said. “The symptoms are so similar, and yet they’re still ignored.”
She said that it took her years to find the right doctor, who asked the right questions, to help her get a firm diagnosis. That person was Dr. Tamer Seckin, co-founder of EndoFound and Founder of Seckin Endometriosis Center.
“Our top-rated endometriosis specialist focuses on providing women with a conservative and definitive treatment for all of their endometriosis-related needs,” the center’s website reads.
Seckin is an endometriosis excision specialist surgeon with over 30 years of experience who works to provide personalized care and minimally-invasive treatment for all endometriosis-related needs.
“A year ago, I met my earth angel. His name is Dr. Tamer Seckin,” Roderick Joel wrote in a message posted to her husband’s Instagram for Endometriosis Awareness Month in March.
“One surgery later, 27 lesions removed, one less appendix and my entire abdominal cavity rid of this horrible disease. I am forever grateful,” she continued.
She also used the post to highlight Seckin’s work with the Endometriosis Foundation of America, which works to raise awareness, implement teaching in schools and continue his research for the next generation.