(BPT) - Picture living with severe pelvic pain so intense that it interferes with your work, school, time with family, daily life - pain that worsens every month, accompanied by heavy bleeding, fatigue and symptoms that ripple through every aspect of your day. You know something is wrong. Yet tests come back normal, and questions remain unanswered. You're told you have cystitis, IBS, lower-back issues - or worse, that what you're experiencing is just part of being a woman.
That's the reality for many women living with endometriosis.
That includes Stephanie Stokes, a 19-year-old College of Charleston student majoring in International Business. Stokes had long lived with heavy, painful periods and severe recurring bladder pain that she thought was caused by urinary tract infections.
"Everything hit a boiling point last summer. My entire pelvic floor from that point on was giving me such constant severe pain that I'd often collapse," she said. "It was painful to urinate, and every waking moment felt like daggers were constantly shifting in my body. Constantly fatigued, my mind fuzzy from constant pain every day, life became extraordinarily difficult."
Those reminders that something was very wrong were robbing her of her joy. Strong-willed and driven, she has big dreams, goals and many passions - the arts, astronomy, learning languages. Though even when she felt like collapsing in pain, she did her best to make it to classes and her job at an upscale King Street boutique in Charleston.
She had no idea what was physically happening to her and started making the rounds to doctors she hoped could help.
"At first, I was going to urgent care frequently, thinking maybe I had just a bad UTI that wouldn't kick," she explained. "But when tests came back negative, the urgent care physicians decided, after my fifth visit, to send me to a urology clinic not affiliated with MUSC. The urologist would not listen to me and was extremely dismissive."
Months later, she asked yet another urologist, who found nothing, to refer her to a gynecologist.
"How could all these tests show nothing? I began to research my symptoms, and then I found 'endometriosis.' I knew that was what was wrong with me. I began to get even worse - the pain got so bad I would lie on my bathroom floor crying, shaking from pain. I felt like I was trapped. I went to see the gynecologist; she dismissed endometriosis. I cried for hours."
Endometriosis is a complex, systemic disease that affects millions of women, yet it remains widely misunderstood, underdiagnosed and undertreated. Each month, the endometrial tissue that grows inside the uterus is meant to shed during menstruation. For women with endometriosis, however, tissue similar to the endometrial lining of the uterus can implant on other organs - the ovaries, fallopian tubes, exterior of the uterus, bladder and bowels - triggering severe pain, chronic fatigue, changes in bowel or bladder habits and pain with intercourse. It can also cause infertility. Endometriosis is often associated with other health conditions, including autoimmune disorders, like lupus and multiple sclerosis; Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; and fibromyalgia.
Stokes' case reflects a broader reality. Many patients wait years, sometimes decades, for accurate diagnoses - for a doctor who will listen and take their concerns seriously.
But Stokes finally met one who believes that women not only deserve appropriate care but care that requires specialized training, advanced surgical expertise and knowing when - and how - to listen. She found that doctor at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Women's Health, which was No. 16 in the nation in the 2025-2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings.
MUSC Women's Health has brought together a team of experts equipped to manage complex benign gynecological conditions, including chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, cysts, infertility and polyps. It also specializes in caring for patients with complex surgical or medical histories.
Stokes' surgeon, Courtney Poston, M.D., brings a highly specialized skill set to the team. She is fellowship-trained in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, having completed two years of advanced training beyond her residency. That expertise allows her to use both traditional laparoscopic and robotic techniques to diagnose and treat complex conditions like endometriosis using smaller incisions - an approach that can mean less pain, faster recovery and improved outcomes for patients.
"Heavy, painful periods aren't normal, and we should stop tolerating people telling us they are," said Poston. "If you're seeing somebody for your symptoms and you feel like those symptoms aren't being addressed, I'm happy to talk to you. You don't have to convince me your pain is real, or your bleeding is real. I believe you."
Those three words - "I believe you" - meant the world to Stokes. "I finally met Dr. Poston, who, from the get-go, always seemed to understand me and know what was going on. And she wholeheartedly believed I had endometriosis."
A common disease hiding in plain sight
Endometriosis affects more than 11% of U.S. women between the ages of 15 and 44, Poston explained, although the actual number may be much higher due to underdiagnosis. It takes, on average, seven to 10 years for a woman to be diagnosed with endometriosis, and Poston said some patients have gone 30 to 40 years without a diagnosis.
Historically, she said, endometriosis was treated with a hysterectomy and removal of the ovaries, an approach that is no longer considered effective. Other traditional treatments were overly invasive or failed to address the disease. "Many women report being told by physicians to 'just get pregnant' as treatment for endometriosis," said Poston. "Not only is that not a treatment, but it doesn't address the problem at its source - and furthermore, it can make pregnancy difficult or even impossible."
According to Poston, today's advanced surgical techniques allow surgeons to diagnose endometriosis using a small camera, obtain tissue samples for evaluation and treat the disease by precisely removing lesions through the small incisions.
Outpatient surgical treatment
Thanks to advanced surgical approaches like Poston's, patients who have endured years or even decades of pain and discomfort can experience positive results in just hours through outpatient surgery, returning home afterward and resuming a normal life within weeks.
In late December, Poston removed endometriosis from around Stokes' bladder, colon and pelvis adjacent to her uterus and ovaries.
"Stephanie is young and healthy," explained Poston. "She was discharged the same day. Her recovery has been uncomplicated, and her pain has significantly improved."
Poston encourages all women to seek care for symptoms, even if other physicians dismissed them.
"Painful, heavy periods, pain around the time of ovulation, feeling dizzy or light-headed, nausea, vomiting, feeling bloated around your period - patients are widely told these things are normal and expected, but none of that is normal," Poston said. "It's important to investigate and determine what's going on. It takes a trained eye to recognize these things and appropriately address them in the operating room."
Stokes is grateful she found the right doctor - one committed to listening and believing. One with advanced training.
"Truly, Dr. Poston changed my life. My whole life, I have lived in pain, and thanks to her, I get to experience life through a brighter lens," she said. "So to all women who have been told that it's just your period. It's normal. Or just 'suck it up,' you don't have to live your life suffering. Many doctors won't take you seriously. But keep fighting. There is hope."
Learn more about expert women's health care at MUSCHealth.org/medical-services/womens.