Drs. Thuan Le, Jenny Jean and Mohamedali Ismailjee (pictured with the Riverside Medical Clinic OB-GYN team) discuss conditions women often live with quietly.
Mother's Day arrives Sunday, and for the obstetrics and gynecology team at Riverside Medical Clinic (RMC), the holiday is also a reminder that women's health care extends well beyond pregnancy and delivery.
For years, the patient who eventually arrived at Dr. Jenny Jean's office in Jurupa Valley had attributed her pain to ordinary menstrual cramps. By the time she came to Riverside Medical Clinic for a second opinion — after care outside California had brought no relief — the underlying condition, endometriosis, had progressed far enough that blood clots had fused her bowels to her pelvic organs. She had not even thought to mention her bowel symptoms. She did not know they could be related.
It is a pattern Dr. Jean and her colleagues at RMC see often. Roughly 1 in 10 American women of reproductive age has endometriosis, and the World Economic Forum estimates women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men — a gap that often comes down to conditions diagnosed late, undertreated or never raised at all.
Three of the practice's physicians walk through the conditions they say their patients most often live with quietly: menopause, endometriosis and infertility.
Menopause Symptoms That Go Beyond Hot Flashes
Dr. Thuan Le, chair of the OB-GYN department at Riverside Medical Clinic, has seen patients suffer silently with menopause symptoms ranging from mildly inconvenient to severely affecting their quality of life.
Hot flashes are the symptom most patients arrive expecting, Dr. Le says, but the picture is usually broader — brain fog, painful vaginal dryness and night sweats can interfere with daily activities, intimacy and quality sleep. Dr. Le offers personalized hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help offset these symptoms.
No two patients are the same when it comes to symptoms or HRT, Dr. Le says, and the treatment is most safely undergone with the supervision of a licensed clinical professional. Building a relationship with a trusted gynecologist, he adds, is the most important step a patient can take.
Endometriosis: When Years of Pain Have a Cause
Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. It is usually marked by intense pain, and although it affects roughly 10% of American women of reproductive age, it is found in nearly half of women with infertility issues.
Dr. Jenny Jean, an OB-GYN who practices at RMC's Jurupa Valley and Temescal Valley clinics, says many of her patients only come to her after years of enduring pain they had attributed to menstruation.
In the case of the patient described above, Dr. Jean intervened, correctly diagnosed the condition, and performed robotic-assisted laparoscopic excision surgery, known as LAPEX. RMC's OB-GYNs have privileges at nearby hospitals to perform minimally invasive and robotic-assisted gynecologic surgery, including procedures that use the da Vinci Surgical System — an approach designed to use smaller incisions, with the goal of fewer complications and quicker recoveries.
Infertility Treatment Beyond IVF
Dr. Mohamedali Ismailjee, an OB-GYN who practices at RMC's Eastvale clinic, sees the emotional toll infertility takes on his patients every day. It is what drew him to the specialty.
The son of a family medicine doctor, Dr. Ismailjee initially planned to become an anesthesiologist or general surgeon — until his mother's struggles with infertility led him down a different path, one that could bring hope to those who wish to become parents.
Many patients are not aware there are alternatives to in vitro fertilization (IVF). For patients meeting certain criteria — including those diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — pharmaceutical options can improve their chances, Dr. Ismailjee says.
He also works with patients carrying high-risk pregnancies. His approach to family planning, he says, includes a thorough review of each patient's medical history to anticipate problems before they occur. For patients with a history of miscarriage caused by an incompetent cervix, he performs a procedure called cerclage that can improve the chances of carrying a pregnancy to full term.
Women's Health, Across Riverside County
Riverside Medical Clinic offers women's health services at locations across Riverside County, with OB-GYN, primary care and imaging services. When an RMC OB-GYN orders mammography or ultrasound, those services are available in network — including 3D mammography for breast cancer screening, which produces a high-definition, wider-angle view that may help reduce false positives.
The throughline across the three physicians is consistent: the conditions women often live with quietly are frequently the most treatable when caught early. Establishing care with a trusted OB-GYN is the first step.
More information: Appointments at any Riverside Medical Clinic location can be scheduled at 951-683-6370, and a full list of providers, services and locations is available at riversidemedicalclinic.com.
Individual results may vary. There are risks associated with any surgical procedure. Talk with your doctor about whether minimally invasive or robotic surgery is right for you. For language assistance, disability accommodations and the nondiscrimination notice, visit riversidemedicalclinic.com.
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