Garofalo Obgyn

Those of you who have followed my blogs for a while know that I’ve written about pelvic prolapse a few times — once about daVinci surgery and another time regarding a clinical study that was set up to see if synthetic mesh inserted through a vaginal incision is beneficial in the repair of pelvic organ prolapse. Pelvic organ prolapse is a relatively common condition caused by the weakening of pelvic muscles and ligaments that support organs such as the bladder and uterus. When this weakening occurs, these organs can slip out of place, often pushing into or through the vagina. Pelvic organ prolapse can be uncomfortable and it can interfere with bowel movements, urination and sexual activity.

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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2011

Norwalk, CT – Today John Garofalo, M.D. was admitted to the Registry of the Council of Gynecologic Endoscopy (CGE) with certification at the highest level of competence in Operative Laparoscopy and Operative Hysteroscopy. He is now one of a select group of Connecticut and Fairfield County physicians to be listed on the Registry. With this certification, CGE recognizes Dr. Garofalo’s experience conducting endoscopic surgeries that led to successful medical outcomes.

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For years, women have been hearing about the potential risks of hormone therapy, which is used to relieve hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. In particular, the combination of estrogen and progestin has been shown to increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer. Since progestin helps protect the uterus from estrogen’s harmful effects, an estrogen-progestin combination is often prescribed for menopausal women who still have their uterus and who are experiencing severe menopausal symptoms.

However, last week The Journal of the American Medical Association reported some surprising news that outlined some potential benefits of using estrogen-only therapy, which has been an option for the one-third of American women over the age of 50 who have had a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus).

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Most women discover that they’re pregnant with an at-home pregnancy test following a missed period, although some women may have an inkling that they’re pregnant before their missed period. Breast tenderness, weight gain, nausea, increased urination, and fatigue are often signals that you’re pregnant, although these symptoms are not exclusive to pregnancy.

Call your doctor as soon as you learn of your pregnancy. While you probably won’t see your doctor until you are eight weeks along, your doctor and/or the doctor’s nurse will have specific items to discuss with you, including:

1. Warnings on foods that you should and should not eat, medications, and pre-natal vitamins
2. A reminder to stop all smoking , drug use, and alcohol consumption
3. Recommendations for limiting nausea and morning sickness
4. Scheduling your first pre-natal appointment eight weeks after your last period 

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Pregnancy and the time leading up to pregnancy can be an overwhelming time. There is so much to think about and to learn, which your doctor will happily discuss with you. This post, my second in a series of posts about what Connecticut moms can look forward to in pregnancy, will talk about ovulation and how the more knowledge you have about your cycle, the easier it may be to get pregnant.

Statistics show that most couples become pregnant within 6-12 months of trying to become pregnant. However, taking the time to track your cycle and knowing when you ovulate could help speed up the process and help you to feel more in control over the timing of conception. There are several methods for determining when you ovulate:

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Best Practices for Women Who Hope to Conceive Soon

Having practiced obstetrics for over 20 years, I hear many of the same questions from hopeful and expecting moms. With so much information available on the web today, many of my Connecticut patients have trouble sorting through what is credible and what is not. 

To help sift through the pregnancy information and to answer so many of those common pre-natal questions, I thought I would address frequent pregnancy concerns from a medical point of view via a new blog series that covers everything from pre-pregnancy to delivery. 

In each post, I will generally follow published information from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecology (You can find more information from ACOG in our library of detailed pregnancy pamphlets).

And now, without further adieu, here are a few best practices for women who hope to conceive.

Achieve a Healthy Weight and an Active Fitness Level

Pregnancy is not the time to try and lose weight, experiment with your diet, or try a new workout routine. Reach a healthy weight prior to becoming pregnant. If you are overweight, you could have problems with diabetes and high blood pressure (among other risks), and if you are underweight, you could have trouble getting pregnant or deliver a baby with a low birth weight.

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Since the late 1990s expectant parents have asked me questions about umbilical cord blood and its uses. Since then, many clinical trials have been conducted. Stem cell news headlines have become more common and private cord blood banking companies have become experts at reaching most parents-to-be via advertising and the Internet. As people become more aware of the services available and the potential benefits of cord blood, I’ve heard many more inquiries from my patients.

Most of the questions have centered on whether or not I recommend that parents bank their child’s cord blood in a private facility in case their child or a close relative could benefit from it at some point in the future.

The answer is not a simple one.

Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells, which are different from most other types of cells in that they have the potential to form red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, which can help stimulate cellular growth and help with blood’s clotting properties. Some parents pay to have this blood preserved via freezing in a private blood bank. Other parents pay a much smaller amount to donate cord blood to a public blood bank. The blood is used when needed by someone who is a good match. At this time, no hospitals in Connecticut collect cord blood for public blood banks. Read more…

Back in April I blogged about pelvic organ prolapse. It’s a relatively common condition caused by the weakening of pelvic muscles and ligaments that support organs such as the bladder and uterus. When this weakening occurs, these organs can slip out of place, often pushing into or through the vagina. Pelvic organ prolapse can be uncomfortable and it can interfere with urination, bowel movements and sexual activity.

I’m writing about pelvic organ prolapse again because of a recent clinical study that was set up to see if synthetic mesh inserted through a vaginal incision is beneficial in the repair of pelvic organ prolapse. This surgical procedure, called vaginal colpopexy, has been performed using sutures for many years with success rates in the neighborhood of 65-75%. These failure rates are much higher than the failure rate with da Vinci sacrocolpopexy, which I wrote about in my April blog.

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5^th Annual Norwalk Hospital Medical Staff Educational Symposium

Marriott Hotel, Newport, RI

October 22 – 24, 2010

Sunday October 24, 2010 – 7:30 – 8:15 am:

Uterine Fibroids – How Should We Treat Them? – Steven Bernstein & John Garofalo

Objective: Understand the treatment options for uterine fibroids