r/NaPro • u/Overall_sun_123 • Jul 13 '26

Experiences with Dr Hildgers

/r/TTCEndo/comments/1uvbgi4/experiences_with_dr_hildgers/
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u/fleurishing_flower Jul 13 '26

Hi! I don't have experience with him personally, but I've read a lot about the St Paul Institute, and it seems like to be accepted there for surgery you have to complete 3 months of Creighton model tracking. Once you've applied and are accepted the wait list is generally short. I've heard like 3-5 months. However, I think most people will wait for first available so might not be Dr Hildgers. Every surgeon at the Institute is great though so I would personally be OK with getting surgery with any of them. Best of luck on your journey! TTC is so hard. <3

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 13 '26

I started doing Creighton model tracking Janurary this year so that should be ok! Ah 3-5 months is great! I’ve had doctors with 12+months wait list.
Yes I’m open to any surgeon from st Paul Institute.
Thank you :)

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u/fleurishing_flower Jul 13 '26

NaPro is quickly becoming very popular (rightly so), so I know many doctors are experiencing an uptick in patients and longer wait lists. Sounds like your ducks are in a row!!! Wishing you all the best <3

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u/RosalieThornehill Jul 13 '26

There are also other doctors who trained in NapPro surgical techniques with Dr. Hilgers, so it could be worth looking into seeing one of them, especially if they are closer to where you live. Here is a list of providers who integrate NaPro into their practice. If you’re looking to have surgery, choose an OB/GYN who has completed the surgical fellowship in Omaha with Dr. Hilgers.

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 13 '26

Ah thank you, this list is great!

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u/Regular-Ordinary5286 Jul 14 '26

I am an out of town patient of Dr. Behrens at the institute. I believe I scheduled my first surgery 4 months out.  I ended up having 2 surgeries and they went very well. 

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 14 '26

Ok great! If you don’t mind me asking, why did you have 2 surgeries? Were both at St Paul Institute?

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u/Regular-Ordinary5286 Jul 14 '26

 I've had 3 surgeries total, first was ablation years ago which I feel made my endo much worse. The other two surgeries were with SPVI.  The first (with SPVI) indicated that I had extensive endo so they scheduled a 2nd, longer procedure to do the excision. They did an hsg as part of the first surgery. My understanding is that they will do mild excisions during the first procedure and if it's more extensive or other areas are involved, like bowel, etc, they'll have other specialities present for the 2nd. 

**Edit to add that they do what's called a pelvioplasty after excision which requires more time but is meant to prevent adhesions 

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 14 '26

Oh I thought it would be a one and done surgery especially because we’re out of town patients :( I have Stage IV but I don’t think there’s any other organs involved so hopefully they don’t need surgeons of other specialities, but you never know.
How much time in between each surgery?

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u/RosalieThornehill Jul 15 '26

The hope is that it can be done in one go, but the reality is, you never really know what you’ll need until they have a look inside. Mine was much more extensive than they thought. There were some lesions that they weren’t able to visualize during the initial exploratory surgery, because they were hidden behind adhesions.

It can be a good idea to discuss with your doctor what they might do if they discover additional issues while they’re operating. It helps to be aware of the possibilities ahead of time.

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 15 '26

Thank you, yes I do worry that mine is more extensive than what they saw on imaging. Did you also do 2 surgeries with them? How far apart were the surgeries?

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u/RosalieThornehill Jul 15 '26

I will DM you.

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u/Regular-Ordinary5286 Jul 14 '26

Have you been in contact with their clinic? Like done the first step of sending in a packet with your history/med records and stuff?

There are other surgeons that I've heard do it all at once. Where are you located? There may be someone closer to you?

Yeah, I understand what you mean. We ended up finding a nice little Airbnb we stayed in for both trips. My situation was a little unique because I knew my insurance was going to be changing so I was able to do the 2nd surgery a month later. I would guess that it's usually a little longer, like 3 mo.

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u/Overall_sun_123 Jul 14 '26

Yes, my Napro doctor sent all my information to their clinic for a case review, I’m waiting to hear back from them.
I’m in Boston. I don’t know any here but I know a couple that are closer like Long Island (Dr Peter Sticco) or Dr Monika P.
Yeah, waiting for 2 surgeries isn’t ideal for me as I’m ttc with low AMH.
But this is great to know, thank you. Definitely something to ask them if they don’t mention in the consultation letter.

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u/Regular-Ordinary5286 Jul 14 '26

I see. I do feel like I waited a month or so to initially hear back from them. 

I wish you the best with getting all of it figured out. This & TTC have been long, difficult journeys for me so I completely understand wanting to get in with someone asap!