Endometriosis Research & Resources
These are resources connected to my own endometriosis journey, including where I had surgery, my surgeon’s work, why specialist care mattered to me, current research I am following, and patient education communities that helped me feel less alone.
This page is personal. It is not meant to tell anyone where to go, who to see, or what treatment path to choose. It is simply a place to share what helped me feel more informed, more supported, and less alone.
This page is for educational and personal storytelling purposes only. It is not medical advice, a provider recommendation, or a universal treatment guide. Endometriosis is complex, and every person’s symptoms, diagnosis, access to care, surgical needs, and recovery process are different. Always speak with your own physician, surgeon, or licensed healthcare provider about your individual care.
UPMC Magee-Womens Center for Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain
One of the most important decisions in my endometriosis journey was choosing where to have surgery.
I had surgery through UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, where there is a center dedicated to endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. For me, that mattered deeply. After years of symptoms, confusion, and feeling like my body was trying to tell me something no one was fully hearing, I wanted to be evaluated and treated by a team that understood how complex endometriosis can be.
Endometriosis is not just a painful period. It can affect quality of life, energy, movement, digestion, intimacy, fertility, mental health, and the way someone feels inside their own body. Finding a care team that recognizes that complexity can make a meaningful difference.
I am not sharing this to say that everyone should go where I went. I am sharing it because, in my own experience, being seen by a center focused on endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain helped me feel more supported, more informed, and more confident in the care I was receiving.
Center for Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain
A direct link to the Magee-Womens Center for Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain, the center connected to my own surgery and care journey.
View Magee CenterNicole M. Donnellan, MD
My surgery was performed by Dr. Nicole M. Donnellan.
One of the things I have learned through this process is how important it can be to find a surgeon who regularly treats endometriosis and understands excision surgery. For me, it was important to be treated by someone with fellowship training in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery and focused experience in endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, and complex pelvic conditions.
That distinction mattered to me.
Endometriosis surgery is not something I personally believe should be approached casually. It requires careful evaluation, experience, and an understanding that endometriosis can be more complicated than what is visible from the outside. Looking back, I am grateful that I advocated for myself and found specialized care.
This is not a universal recommendation or medical directive. It is simply a part of my story, and one of the pieces of my journey that I feel is important to share.
Nicole M. Donnellan, MD
A direct link to Dr. Donnellan’s professional profile through Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation.
View ProfileDr. Donnellan’s Pioneering Career at Magee-Womens
A feature on Dr. Donnellan’s work at Magee-Womens, including her role in endometriosis care, research, and advocacy.
Read FeatureThe Surgeon You Choose Matters
If there is one thing I wish more people understood about endometriosis, it is this: the type of care you receive matters.
For years, so many women are told their pain is normal, stress-related, digestive, hormonal, or something they simply have to live with. That kind of dismissal can make you question your own body. It can make you feel dramatic, difficult, or disconnected from yourself.
For me, finding an endometriosis excision specialist was one of the most important parts of my care. A surgeon’s training, experience, and approach can matter, especially when surgery is being considered. I believe patients deserve to ask questions. They deserve to understand their options. They deserve to know if their surgeon has specific experience treating endometriosis.
Some questions I believe are worth asking include:
- Does this provider regularly treat endometriosis?
- Do they perform excision surgery?
- Do they have fellowship training in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery or advanced gynecologic surgery?
- How do they evaluate chronic pelvic pain?
- Do they work with pelvic floor physical therapists or other specialists?
- How do they approach follow-up care and recovery?
Questions to Ask Before Endometriosis Surgery
Because I believe so strongly in walking into appointments prepared, I put together a free printable checklist of questions to ask before endometriosis surgery. It covers the surgery plan, your surgeon’s experience, excision and ablation, imaging and pathology, fertility, recovery, pelvic floor physical therapy, and long-term care.
You can download it, check off the questions that matter most to you, write down what your provider says, and bring it with you to your consult.
Endometriosis Surgery Questions Checklist
A printable PDF checklist to help you feel prepared, informed, and supported as you get ready for endometriosis surgery. Created from my own experience, and free to download.
Download the ChecklistHormone-Free Endometriosis Treatment Research
One of the most encouraging things I have seen recently is the growing focus on better treatment options for endometriosis.
For so many patients, the current reality can feel exhausting. Diagnosis can take years. Treatment decisions can be complicated. Hormonal options may help some people, but they are not the right fit for everyone. Surgery may be part of the journey for some patients, but it should not feel like the only conversation being had.
That is why research into hormone-free treatment options feels so important to me.
The work being done by researchers at Michigan State University gives me hope because it reflects something endometriosis patients have needed for a long time: more investment, more curiosity, and more urgency around this disease.
To me, this is the most promising the conversation around endometriosis treatment has felt. Not because there is one simple answer, and not because research guarantees an immediate solution, but because people are asking better questions. They are looking for new possibilities. They are acknowledging that patients deserve more options.
I am not sharing this as medical advice or as a treatment recommendation. I am sharing it because, as someone who has lived through the confusion, pain, dismissal, and eventual surgery that can come with endometriosis, seeing research move forward matters.
It makes me feel like the future of endometriosis care may finally be moving in a more hopeful direction.
MSU Researchers Expand the Search for Hormone-Free Endometriosis Treatments
A current research update from Michigan State University highlighting work toward hormone-free treatment possibilities for endometriosis. I am sharing this as a hopeful research development I am personally following, not as medical advice or a treatment recommendation.
Read Research UpdatePatient Education Communities
Another part of my journey was realizing how many other people were living with similar stories.
Endometriosis can be isolating. Before diagnosis, it can feel like you are constantly trying to explain pain that other people cannot see. After diagnosis, it can still feel overwhelming to understand treatment options, recovery, pelvic floor therapy, symptoms, flares, fatigue, and the emotional weight of finally having a name for what you have been experiencing.
Patient education communities helped me feel less alone.
Nancy’s Nook is one of the communities many people come across when they begin researching endometriosis, excision surgery, and specialist care. Like any online resource, it should not replace medical care or your own provider’s guidance. But for me, finding patient-centered education and hearing from others who understood the disease helped me feel more informed and less isolated.
Support matters. Education matters. Feeling believed matters.
Nancy’s Nook Endometriosis Education
A patient education and support community connected to endometriosis awareness, excision surgery education, and patient advocacy. Shared as a resource that helped me feel less alone, not as a replacement for medical care.
Visit Nancy’s NookWhat I Hope This Page Offers
I know how overwhelming it can feel to start searching for answers.
I know what it feels like to wonder if your pain is normal. I know what it feels like to sit with years of symptoms and still question if you are overreacting. I know what it feels like to finally get a diagnosis and realize you are both relieved and grieving at the same time.
That is why I created this page.
Not to tell anyone what to do, but to share the resources that became part of my own path. Not to make medical decisions for anyone else, but to encourage people to ask questions, seek qualified care, and trust themselves when something does not feel right.
Endometriosis is complicated. Healing is complicated. Advocacy is complicated.
But you are not dramatic for wanting answers. You are not difficult for asking questions. And you are not alone in wanting care that sees the full picture.
More From Insights
I also share personal reflections on endometriosis, diagnosis, recovery, pelvic floor physical therapy, nutrition, rest, and rebuilding trust with my body through the Insights section of this site.
The resources on this page are connected to my personal experience with endometriosis. They are shared for educational and personal storytelling purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment guidance, or a provider endorsement for every patient. Please speak with your own physician, surgeon, or licensed healthcare provider before making decisions about your care.
Explore More of My Journey
For more about my professional background, personal advocacy, and reflections on endometriosis and women’s health, continue exploring the site.