CLEVELAND — March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is an often painful disorder where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows on other parts of the body. 

What You Need To Know

  • March is Endometriosis Awareness Month.

  • Endometriosis is an often painful disorder where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows on other parts of the body.

  • At least one in 10 women suffer from the condition

It’s a condition that Dustie Burke is all too familiar with, having had an advanced form of endometriosis. 

“There is always the thought in the back of my mind that it can come back,” Burke confessed. “It’s a day-to-day, minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour illness.” 

Burke had endometriosis in the parametrium, bowel, ureter, bladder and vagina. A large nodule was strangulating her ureter, causing her to lose function of her right kidney, and it also invaded the vagina, bladder and rectum.

“If you try to take the whole picture in, you can get overwhelmed,” she said. “So if you just take it literally hour by hour, it’s a much better way to deal with it.” 

In Sept. 2022, Burke underwent a seven-hour robotic surgery to remove the endometriosis.

The surgery team was led by Miguel Luna Russo, the director of endometriosis for the Women’s Health Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. 

“So with the robotic platform, we were essentially able to have three surgical teams in one room, just using essentially a set of instruments with the robotic platform,” Luna Russo explained.  

At least one in 10 women have endometriosis, a number Luna Russo said could be much higher. 

“To be completely honest, as a society we haven’t done a very good job of not putting a stigma on women who have painful periods, or some of the symptoms that endometriosis carries,” she explained. “One of the biggest things that I tell all of my patients is that physiologic processes should not hurt, so menstruation should not put you in the bed and you are having to need medications or miss work or have a poor quality of life.” 

Burke has had a long road to recovery, but she hasn’t let her illness stop her from living her life.

“I was up walking laps in the hospital after the reversal,” Burke said. “If you don’t move it, you lose it and I’m trying not to lose anything. I’ve lost enough insides. I don’t need to lose my ability to walk and function and live.” 

She said she hopes her story will inspire other women to advocate for their health.

“Make sure you tell your OB/GYN on those yearly visits that you are having pelvic pain or you are noticing more pain on your period or anything like that,” Burke urged. “Tell someone because if you can catch it early, it’s not going to be as bad as what I went through, and I don’t want that for anyone.”