Dr. Stefanie GEFROH-Ellison Health
The area of women’s health is in the midst of big changes.
Photo by Alison Smith
If anyone knows the impact of being able to provide women with better and less invasive surgery options for treatments, it’s Dr. Stefanie Gefroh-Ellison of Essentia Health-Fargo. Dr. Gefroh-Ellison, an OB/ GYN at Essentia Health-Fargo is providing new treatment options to her patients with the help of innovative technology. Currently, Dr. Gefroh-Ellison is performing prolapse and hysterectomy procedures using robotic surgery and providing patients with overactive bladders relief with the InterStim device.
24
Stride • September 2013
The InterStim neurostimulator is a small device that is implanted above the buttocks and sends stimulation between a patient’s sacral nerves (located in the back) and brain. It sends messages between the bladder and brain, offering relief to “I was, just like my patients, overactive bladder issues. getting frustrated that if they had bladder issues, I didn’t have Half of Dr. Gefroh-Ellison’s job a whole lot to offer them,” Dr. is done in the OR while the other Gefroh-Ellison explained. “I try half is spent consulting and meeting hard to work at breaking down with her patients on a daily basis to what the issues are because listen and help them sort through there are different kinds of the masses of literature available on bladder problems. And for the women’s health. right patient, they may benefit from having an InterStim device “Patients are a lot more resourceful placed on their bladder. It can — that’s changed our practice quite a bit. There’s the Internet; you can really change their life.”
Google anything. Patients come in well-versed with their research,” said Dr. Gefroh-Ellison. “My job is to help patients sift through it all and take what’s useful and set aside the rest.” Dr. Gefroh-Ellison takes pride in the care she and her department at Essentia Health-Fargo are able to provide for patients. “We always want patients to feel and know they’re our top priority,” said Dr. Gefroh-Ellison. “Our group here in the OB/GYN department at Essentia is very friendly, very well qualified and very personable. It’s a happy place.”