Maxine's Story: Acute Diverticulitis

As a woman's health-care nurse-practitioner, I never realized the severity of my acute diverticulitis in August, 2003. Due to a high tolerance for pain I thought I had a simple urinary tract infection. After that test proved negative, I ended up having a CTScan. In fact I ended up having three CTScans, at a cost of over $5,000 to assess the source of my pain. (Due to my high tolerance to pain, the only way to assess my condition/progress was by CTScan.) The doctors found that I had acute diverticulitis with fistulas extending from the sigmoid colon to the rectum. I was advised to go from the CTScan department via my surgeon to the operating room, at which time I was supposed to have six inches of my intestines removed (from the descending colon) and to get a colostomy bag. Instead of surgery, I found Russell, through a mutual friend, Joanne Dinnie (head GI nurse at Baystate Medical Center , in Springfield , Massachusetts ). 

Russell, in my opinion, is a bowel health genius . After just five weeks following his program I felt almost fully recovered. A colonoscopy done in December 2003 showed no inflammation at all. I have no doubt that as long as I continue to do the things I have learned from Russell, my intestinal condition will continue to improve and regenerate. It is now July 2004, and I continue to consult with him on a regular basis. I have no pain and I am symptom-free.

Maxine Costa, RN MSN/BSN/APRN

Note: It is now March 2006 and I continue to speak with Maxine on a regular basis. She continues to be pain-free and symptom free. She is doing just great! Now our conversations focus primarily on the referrals she sends me from the two women's health care centers where she works. RM