As a 25-year-old former athlete who loves to stay active, I was worried I would have chronic pain for the rest of my life. I found VIE and Dr. Michael Cumming after spending 6 months with 5 different physicians, undergoing ultrasounds, physical therapy sessions, and CT scans to try and find the source of my pelvic and testicular pain. I felt cast aside by other doctors. They all seemed to accept that some pain you cannot make go away, but when I showed up at VIE, Dr. Cumming was able to articulate what was causing my pain and that he had seen and helped others with the same issue. The same varicocele that 2 urologists and a surgeon told me was not causing my pain, was actually the culprit. Dr. Cumming’s confidence and experience with others who had this pain filled me with hope. I was excited to have this operation and get back to normal life. However, we ran into issues with my insurance provider who rejected the operation and misfiled paperwork, throwing my case into flux. This is where I got to experience a whole new level of personal care and support. Dr. Cumming and his front office staff, Julie in particular, worked with me to submit appeals and communicate with my insurance provider in order to get the operation approved. They worked after hours to compile medical studies supporting the case, and they stuck with it for 4 months, exhausting all appeals and keeping me updated throughout the process. When it became clear that my insurance was working against me rather than for me, and would not approve the operation, I told Dr. Cumming I still wanted to proceed. It was so apparent how much they cared about helping me with my pain, and were going to do whatever they could. Eventually, I was able to have the operation, and 10 days later, I was back to lifting weights 6 days a week and playing basketball 3 days a week. Dr. Cumming is not just a master of his craft, he also has the personal touch. I had basically given up, and now I have no pain and have been able to resume a life that I thought I had lost. VIE has restored my faith in the medical field.