Healthcare 360: Navigating Life with Adenomyosis and Endometriosis

Podcast: Life Battling Adenomyosis & Endometriosis

On this week’s episode of Healthcare 360: Patient Perspective, a subseries of Healthcare 360 focusing on patient stories, Dr. Rob Fields sits down with Cassie Wise to discuss her experience battling adenomyosis and endometriosis.

Searching for a Diagnosis

Massachusetts native Cassie Wise always knew she wanted to be a musician. From an early age, she began writing her own songs and discovered a passion for performing that eventually led her to her dream school, Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied contemporary writing and production.

Since graduating from Berklee, Cassie, who goes by the stage name Cassie Pearl, continued to write original music, perform and share her talent with others on her social media. However, her life took a sudden turn this past April when she began to experience debilitating abdominal pain and other symptoms that disrupted her daily life.

Cassie searched for answers for her unexpected symptoms. After multiple visits to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center she was diagnosed with adenomyosis.

“I had never even heard that word before,” Cassie says, “Then one of my nurses at Lahey shared she had endometriosis herself. She walked me through what was going on, showed me Facebook support groups I could join and offered specialist recommendations. She gave me all the information I needed to get started advocating for myself and finding the right care. It was a game changer.”

Finding Support & Community

Cassie joined multiple Facebook support groups and discovered a community of women sharing their personal experiences, and offering resources, advice and support. These groups proved to be vital for Cassie while navigating her diagnosis and searching for treatment options.

One of the most valuable recommendations Cassie received was to seek care at the Mount Auburn Hospital Endometriosis Care Center. This specialized center offers advanced treatment for women with endometriosis, adenomyosis and other gynecologic conditions. There, Cassie received a second diagnosis of late-stage endometriosis.

“I have heard so many stories of women who are dismissed by doctors for their symptoms and wait years to get diagnosed or find relief,” says Cassie, “Then you see a doctor from the Endometriosis Care Center, the best around here, and they say, I hear you, what do you want to do? My doctor changed my life.”

Thanks to the specialized care she received at the Endometriosis Care Center, Cassie has a treatment plan to manage symptoms for both diagnoses.

“The team at the Endometriosis Center are the most skilled and understanding,” says Cassie, “I go on my Facebook support groups, and I read the posts from other women who are being treated by the same doctors as me. They're like, I can't believe it, my life is so much better, I can live again. It’s amazing.”

Reflecting on the past few months, Cassie credits her nurse at Lahey, her Facebook support groups and her own self advocacy for helping her find the right care. Cassie looks forward to getting life back to normal and returning to music.

Bi-monthly, we’ll chat with patients to hear their stories and learn more about their experience with the healthcare system. Listen to the full conversation with Cassie Wise and check in regularly for new episodes of Healthcare 360: Patient Perspective.