William Croyle is a former writer with the Cincinnati Enquirer. He is the author of 11 books, including co-author with Tamer Seckin, MD, of The Doctor Will See You Now: Recognizing and Treating Endometriosis and EndoMEtriosis: A Guide for Girls.
Nobody wants to talk about the most brutal time in their life, including Lindsay Jankovitz. For her, that was in high school nearly 20 years ago when endometriosis began taking over her body. But Jankovitz has bravely been sharing her story…
Nicole Allen graduated from West Point, achieved the rank of major, and ran on the Army Ten Miler team at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) in Texas. She did it all while battling endometriosis and adenomyosis. Now, at 34, Allen is about to run…
*trigger warning for references to medical trauma* June 26, 2023, will forever be the day that changed my life. My name is Aubrey Svensson, and I am an incoming M1 medical student. I graduated with a degree in psychology from The Ohio…
Mary Groninger has never run a marathon. She’d also never heard of EndoFound until a Google search last spring. Now she’s training for the world’s largest race as a member of Team EndoStrong. “It’s been a whirlwind…
I was eight years old the first time I rode a horse. It was also the first time I fell off, as a nearby car backfired and scared the horse—but I got back on and never stopped riding. Even when the indoor riding arena collapsed under the…
Dan O’Brien has just about done it all when it comes to running, including half marathons, full marathons, and Ironman triathlons. But something the 26-year-old hedge fund trader from New York has never done is tie his running to a charity,…
Asbury Park is where Bruce Springsteen started, and Alexandra Jardvall has aspired to play. The 48-year-old Swedish-born singer and songwriter has been performing since she was 12, and now her wish is about to come true. “My dad…
Grace Kunkel is shooting for a time of 3:45 in her first New York City Marathon on Nov. 5. That would eclipse her personal record by eight minutes. But for Kunkel, the race is more about the journey than the destination. “I love running…
Mara Natkin and Gloria Ramirez don’t have endometriosis, but when the owners of Artery Ink in Milwaukee learned about it, they felt compelled to do something to bring awareness to the disease that affects millions. “It’s…
Avery St. Sauveur has been in pain from endometriosis for most of the last decade, but that’s not stopping her from training for her first full marathon—the world’s largest on Nov. 5. “While the New York City Marathon…
Every woman with endometriosis has a unique story about her journey with the disease. Autumn Weimann’s may be one of the most unusual. The 31-year-old Orange County, Calif., resident started feeling symptoms in high school one day each…
Team EndoStrong raised nearly $170,000 for EndoFound last year by running in the TCS New York City Marathon. Clare Murphy, who is running for and organizing the team for this year’s marathon on Nov. 5, expects to blow away that number.…
Bernadette Higgins was in middle school the day she got her first period. She was 12 years old. “I was doubled over in pain and in the nurse’s office the second it happened,” Higgins said. She was sent home early by…
Simran Datta was sitting in her AP Language Arts and Composition class one morning, engrossed in her writing assignment. Though she was menstruating that day and typically bled a lot, she wasn’t worried since she’d just changed…
Bernadette Higgins was 12 years old when she got her first period. It was the beginning of a nightmare. “I thought it was cool when I got my period because all the girls were getting them, but I knew something was wrong,” she said.…
Michela Bedard hears one consistent story in her work: those living in poverty need to decide what essential goods to buy each month, and menstrual products generally don’t make the cut because of priorities like food, heat, and electricity.…
The most extensive study ever conducted on endometriosis genetics has revealed a shared genetic basis for endometriosis and other types of pain, including migraine, back pain, and multisite pain. It also provides a clear distinction between…
Dr. Ted Lee, a longtime friend of EndoFound, approached the Centers for Disease Control in 2019 with a proposal to create more diagnosis codes for endometriosis. He expected it would be a long process involving extensive work, but it had to…
One in five women in the U.S. is infertile, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as when a pregnancy does not occur after at least a year of unprotected sex. And one of the leading causes of infertility is endometriosis.…
Deniz Kocas is a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at The New School for Social Research in New York City. For the next 18 months, she will focus on her dissertation project—exploring the relationship between the stigma around endometriosis…
Stephen Palmer, Ph.D., who has dedicated more than 30 years to drug discovery and development, has been named one of EndoFound’s Harry Reich Award recipients. Palmer is an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and the chief…
Dr. Jacques Donnez, a highly decorated surgeon from Belgium, will receive EndoFound’s Harry Reich Award this weekend for his lifelong contributions to the healthcare of women with endometriosis. The foundation will present the award to…
Alicia Vitarelli has had three laparoscopic surgeries for endometriosis, her most recent one just eight weeks ago. Yet the anchor and reporter for 6abc Action News in Philadelphia will travel to Los Angeles next week to cover the Oscars, and…
Corinne Foxx began experiencing endometriosis symptoms with her first period at age 12. The pain peaked in 2018 when she was 24 and still had no diagnosis. “It became so intense that I would keel over and pray that I would pass…
Laurie Berke-Weiss has been an attorney for four decades, primarily focusing on employment and labor issues. She’s never had a case involving endometriosis, but as she learns more about the disease, she understands what patients may be…
Rachel E. Gross says she was destined to be a nerd. Her father is a physicist. Her mother is a family medicine doctor. Her stepmom is a molecular biologist. While being a doctor or scientist wasn’t Gross’ calling, writing about…
Latia Lee started to try to get pregnant in July 2019. Nearly four years and three clinics later, she is due to have her first child in July. As Lee discusses in this episode of Let’s Talk Period on EndoTV with Diana Falzone, advocating…
A decade ago, one of Dr. Aimee Eyvazzedeh’s patients couldn’t get pregnant and was about to abandon the hope of growing her family. “I told her, ‘Don’t give up. I still think there’s a chance,’”…
Lexie Stevenson is the lead actress in a movie scheduled to air on Lifetime and Amazon Prime in a few months. Still untitled, the picture is based on The Tinder Swindler Netflix documentary. Producers cranked out the filming in three weeks…
Renowned conservationist and Australian television personality Bindi Irwin recently underwent surgery in New York City at the Seckin Endometriosis Center in Lenox Hill Hospital. She is the daughter of the late Steve Irwin, best known for his…
One of Olivia Lee’s life mottos is, “The more you know, the more you owe.” Lee, a special education attorney with Disability Rights Texas, put that adage into action by drafting House Bill 1298 with Texas Rep. Harold…
Connecticut State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest has been a powerful advocate for endometriosis patients during her three years in office. In this brief but impactful Endo TV episode of Let’s Talk Period with host Diana Falzone, Rep. Gilchrest…
EndoFound worked diligently to stay on mission through COVID-19, including with the informative and popular Global Patient Symposium, commonly referred to as Patient Day. By switching to a virtual format in 2020, the event continued to provide…
Only four papers on endometriosis are cited from 1926 to 1929 in PubMed—a database of 35 million scientific abstracts and references managed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Among those, 32,698 include endometriosis.…
Harry Santa-Olalla has the charisma, presence, and passion of a traditional auctioneer, but he doesn’t prefer the term auctioneer. He says his job is to be the team captain, turning what is often a spectator sport—with most of the…
Entering college, Jake Carlin knew he wanted to work in the nonprofit industry. He wasn’t sure in what capacity, but healthcare eventually rose to the top. “Being on the healthcare side was coincidental at first, but then…
When Dr. Dan Martin was 10 years old, his grandmother made him learn needlepoint. It wasn’t something many boys did in 1956, but she believed that the concentration and hand-to-eye coordination the craft required would lead her grandson…
Three years ago, after Diana Falzone’s second endometriosis surgery, she and her doctor had a profound conversation. It was a moment so powerful, they were both brought to tears. “He asked me to help him carry the torch to bring…
Stacey Bruss has been competing in beauty pageants since she was eight years old. While she used to enter them purely for fun, she competes today with a mission: to bring awareness to and eventually find a cure for endometriosis. Bruss, from…
Ana Gonzalez Herrera’s endometriosis story is like that of so many corporate executives with the disease. She once gave a presentation in a male-dominated boardroom while masking her excruciating pain. Another time in Starbucks she doubled…
One afternoon in high school, Melissa Boudreau was doubled over in pain. She’d fought through it several times previously, but the severity of it on this day was unprecedented. She was sweating from head to toe and counting on the school…
During the coronavirus pandemic, organizations worldwide have continued to serve their clientele by creatively adapting to social distance rules. EndoFound has been no exception. On the heels of its grassroots “PeriodNow” campaign…
When Jody Grobman was asked by Dr. Tamer Seckin if she would consider becoming a member of the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s board of directors, it was an easy decision. “I’m a big fan of Dr. Seckin and what he does…
Photo - Tamer Seckin, MD, Cofounder,EndoFound, Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, Madeleine K. Rudin, Board of Directors, EndoFound March 11, 2020 Words of gratitude and hope pour in for Iowa Congresswoman Washington,…
Credits EndoFound for helping her come forward, creates caucus to raise awareness Few people outside of family and friends knew that Rep. Abby Finkenauer had been living much of her young life with endometriosis – until she courageously…
In the fall of 2018, just seven months after launching Karmela Cosmetics, founder Nechami Tenenbaum wanted to donate some of the proceeds of her lipstick line to organizations that unite, empower, and educate women. “I didn’t want…
Endometriosis takes an average of twelve years to diagnose. Twelve long years. That means most teenagers who have it suffer into at least their mid-twenties or early thirties before they have any clue what it is. They are repeatedly undiagnosed…