Fibroid Treatment Clinic / Personal Branding Shoot/ South Africa

Two years ago I had to have a fibroid removed, and was fortunate enough to have a team of leading doctors, and their exceptional team of staff to ensure that everything ran smoothly, with the quickest recovery. The procedure I had done was called UFE – Uterine Fibroid Embolisation and at the time, it was done via a tiny insertion in my groin area. Today, this minimally invasive procedure has grown and advanced so much, it’s now done by having a radiologist insert a very thin catheter into the radial artery, via a tiny hole in the wrist (called uterine artery embolisation). Dr Gary Sudwarts and Dr Maja Wojno perform UFE’s regularly on both Privately funded and State funded patients at UCT Private Academic Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. They work closely with general gynaecologists and gynaecologists with a special interest in fertility medicine. Their mission is to improve and change the lives of women who suffer from fibroids so that they can go on to lead healthy lives.

So what are uterine fibroids? Fibroids are abnormal benign growths that develop in or on a woman’s uterus. Sometimes these growths become large and cause excessive bleeding in the form of heavy periods or intense abdominal pain. In other cases, they cause no signs or symptoms at all. The growths are typically benign, or noncancerous. Although the cause of fibroids is still unknown, there are several factors that contribute to their growth, for example, hormones, pregnancy or family history.

For women suffering from fibroids, I can highly recommend getting in touch with Dr Sudwarts or Dr Wojno: www.fibroids.co.za and they can give you more info. They are also involved in The White Dress Project which “exists to promote fibroid awareness, raise funds for research and increase support, proving to women everywhere that they CAN wear white!“

Kieno Kammies from Cape Talk interviewed Dr Maja Wojno at the procedure – click here.

A special thank you to Dr Sudwarts and Dr Wojno for completely changing my quality of life. I previously endured years and years of ’10-day a month’ bleeding, which led to anaemia and several blood transfusions. I had to schedule photo shoots around my cycle and spent many days indoors. The healing time after the procedure was brief, and then it took a few short months to have my health and energy back again.

I spent a morning with the team photographing them while they performed the procedure and here are some from our time together.