Mercy Gynecologist Dr. Kevin Audlin Discusses Diagnosis and Treatment of Endometriosis

It's often dismissed as "killer cramps," but endometriosis can cause extreme inflammation, painful lesions, and sometimes infertility.

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Getting the proper diagnosis can be a game changer for patients.

Looking at the pictures of Susie Veech's life you can see smiles, fun times and memorable moments. What you can't tell from the photos is that she was in a lot of pain.

"You get used to it. You hate to say that, but you get used to it after a while. I've always been tough and like to swallow when things are bothering me anyways, so a lot of people may not have known I was in pain," Veech said.

After five years, Veech learned to live with the pain.

"I went to all these doctors with all this pain who told me I couldn't do anything about it," Veech said.

The fourth time was a charm for Veech. She went to see gynecologist Dr. Kevin Audlin at the Endometriosis Center at Mercy Medical Center.

"I walked in the office and started telling him what was going on and he said, 'If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's endometriosis, so let's fix it,'" Veech said.

"Endometriosis is where the menstrual blood flow should come out vaginally, but ends up back in the pelvis. Over time, it causes lots of pain, lots of discomfort with intercourse, bowel movements, back pain. It's quite debilitating," Dr. Audlin said.

Audlin said he often sees patients like Veech who are misdiagnosed. Surgery can take away the pain, but it's difficult.

"It's dissecting a lot of very deep pelvic plains that are difficult to get to," Dr. Audlin said.

The Endometriosis Center was the first to use a special scope which allows Audlin to see a three-dimensional visualization of the pelvis. He's used it on more than 300 patients and it's made a huge difference.

"It allows me to get much more aggressive in my dissection, find endometriosis that others might not find, and when I do find it, allow me to get rid of it. The goal is pain relief, and pain relief is only found if the patient is able to have all the endometriosis moved," Dr. Audlin said.

It did that for Veech. Since her surgery in February, she feels good and is looking forward to living a life without pain.

To view Dr. Audlin’s interview with WBAL-TV11 concerning the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis, click here.