Mr Mohamed Mabrouk 2020-07-07 Person 5 5 0

I attended the A&E three times with lower abdominal pains. I was hospitalised and discharged with no diagnoses. In the following couple of weeks, my pains worsened and my first routine appointment with the Gynaecology department was booked for 3 months later. The department cancelled and rebooked my appointment a few times. I contacted the department as this was not a pain I could survive for 3 months and I asked for my MRI to be reconsidered. Once they reviewed my MRI, I was asked to come in urgently by one of the senior doctors. When I attended I had an ultrasound scan and I was told that I had lost an ovary… “likely to have e suffered a torsion whilst I was initially in pain” and either could wait for things to get better (?! if they would ever just get better) or have an urgent operation. The doctor who saw me was due to be on annual leave and had squeezed me in after reviewing my MRI. It felt as if he just wanted to go on his holiday. I was in a cold hospital room, half naked, unaware of what may be happening and the doctor carrying out my scan just casually said that I had lost an ovary! This was a very sad and shocking experience. I do not have children and it is something I look forward to in life and finding out that I had lost an ovary in the time I was in and out of the hospital was extremely frustrating. I have always had heavy periods but no doctor has ever investigated it further. I had had a scan which showed mini cysts a year before and my GP had said that this was all normal. The doctor at the hospital introduced me to the emergency evening team who were happy to operate me rather "go in and remove the lost ovary". I asked to have an emergency operation but not with the evening team. I wanted to be booked in for the day surgery. I was extremely lucky because my operation was booked in with Dr Mohamed Mabrouk for the next morning. I had not met Dr Mabrouk but I had previously heard from endometriosis patients talking about him in the ward whilst I was initially hospitalised for a week. They were talking about how he is an amazing doctor and truly a specialist. In the morning of the operation, Dr Mabrouk came and introduced himself to me. I told him all of my concerns. I told him I did not want to lose an ovary. He was very different to all the other doctors I had previously met in the A&E and the wards (which was probably about 8-10 doctors ranging from general surgeons to Gynae's). He listened to all of my concerns and answered all of my questions. He assured me that he is Gynaecologist and that his job is to recover and save as much of the productive system as possible. He told me all the details of what he will do and any scenarios he may face. He said if the ovary is there and there is any chance to save it he would save every possible part. He explained the worst case scenario, the best case scenario and all the possible outcomes from one end of the scale to the other. He really assured me that I can trust him and that he would do his best to preserve my ovaries. When I came out of the operation, he came to see me in the ward about an hour after I woke up. This also assured me that he really cared for his patients. He had saved my ovary, in fact there was a large cyst on my left ovary and a burst cyst in the douglas pouch. He explained everything in detail to me. I was diagnosed with endometriosis. He had carried out an extensive operation and his assistance did not end there. I suffered a heavy bleed a week after the operation and was taken to A&E; I was told that this was my period probably induced by the operation as the body can sometimes go in to shock. I was able to speak to Mr Mabrouk on the telephone and in person. He continued to support me and answer my questions. He had wondered if my endometriosis had caused any damage to my bowels and I had a colposcopy. He is so great that he called to give me my colposcopy results during lockdown and checked on my progress. He is definitely to be trusted. In the 7 months I have been under the care of Addenbrokes hospital Gynae department, Dr Mabrouk is definitely the doctor I trust. I would recommend him any Gynae patients. For me, he made a miracle happen. He has great knowledge, he listens and he cares. He is a fabulous doctor.