source: kvrr.com
SABIN, Minn. — She’s the familiar voice on WAVE 104.1, but there’s something about Natalie Burbeck that many listeners can’t hear.
Burbeck knew from a young age her body was experiencing something different from other girls.
“I mean, you would talk with girlfriends about things and you find out, okay, they have these symptoms and you feel like yours are so much worse,” she says.
Menstrual cycle cramps were intolerable.
“They were to the point where I was miserable.”
Major headaches, constant fatigue and extreme pain told her something was off.
It wasn’t until three years ago, when her symptoms started to worsen, that she decided it’s time to do something about it.
But multiple visits to different doctors gave her zero answers.
“I doubted that anyone believed me. That — I was like, ‘Am I going crazy?’ I know something is wrong here.”
It wasn’t until she did her own research and found the right physician at Sanford Health that things started to look up.
“When I found Dr. Coauette, I explained to her, I had done all this research on Endometriosis and I said, ‘I really do believe that it is this,’ and she was the first doctor that really believed in me and was like, ‘We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to figure this out.’”
Endometriosis, often referred to as the “Silent Disease,” affects 1 in 10 women, but it’s rarely talked about.
“Mostly because those symptoms are so common in women with your period. It’s your period. And a lot of women don’t talk about it, so you just, your mom says, ‘Yeah, I had bad cycles. I took Motrin and moved on,’” says Sanford OBGYN Dr. Jordan Coauette.
It’s a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside of it.
Although there’s no permanent cure for Endometriosis, a laparoscopy removes as much of that tissue as possible.
“I was super scared about the surgery, but it was very easy and I feel great afterwards. The recovery was so easy. I had surgery over a year ago and I feel really good,” says Burbeck.
The lesson she’s passing on to other women is to simply listen to their bodies.
If you think something is wrong…
“I recommend seeing your primary care, seeing one of us OBGYN’s and just telling us what’s going on. Tell us your story,” says Dr. Coauette.
They say talking about it is the first step to getting a solution.