Excision surgery often sits just out of reach in endometriosis care, and Nicole Notar explains why. Insurance barriers, outdated coding, and persistent misconceptions turn a medically necessary procedure into something patients must fight for or fund themselves. Who pays the price when effective care is delayed?

Callie Greenberg talks with Nicole about years of being dismissed with labels like anxiety and IBS before real answers finally came. After exhausting in-network options, Nicole paid out of pocket for excision surgery and discovered widespread disease across multiple organs. That moment confirmed what had long been overlooked and exposed how access to care too often depends on persistence and finances rather than medical need.

Out of that experience, Nicole founded Endo Excision For All, a nonprofit focused on helping patients access excision surgery now while pushing for policy change around insurance, reimbursement, and disability recognition. The episode also breaks down the hidden financial realities of endometriosis care and offers practical guidance for navigating billing and coverage. Real progress will require systems that treat endometriosis as the complex, full-body disease it is.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Endo Warriors Intro: Endometriosis And Women’s Health

00:45 Nicole Notar And The Endo Excision For All Nonprofit

01:38 Endometriosis Misdiagnosis: IBS, Anxiety, And Dismissed Pain

10:18 Choosing Excision Surgery After Insurance Denial

12:06 Excision Surgery Findings: Endometriosis Across Multiple Organs

16:41 Why Excision Surgery Is Expensive: Insurance And Coding Barriers

18:41 Policy Change For Endometriosis: ADA, FMLA, And Disability Access

19:59 Excision Surgery Vs Ablation: What Patients Need To Know

39:48 Surgery Billing Reality: Surprise Costs And Insurance Gaps

50:20 Endometriosis Advocacy: Capitol Hill Day And How To Get Involved

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The reason so many women are dismissed when they report severe period pain has less to do with their bodies and more to do with how medicine was built. Callie Greenberg digs into that reality with OB-GYN and former NIH-funded researcher Dr. Margo Harrison in a conversation about menstrual pain, endometriosis, and why symptoms that disrupt daily life are still treated as normal in women’s health care.

From her experience in academic medicine and clinical practice, Dr. Harrison explains how period suffering became something people expect rather than question. There was one moment from her practice that stayed with her. A patient said that an abortion procedure hurt less than her period. That reaction isn’t shocking to many listeners. Callie connects it to what she hears again and again from the endometriosis community, where normal scans often lead to dismissal instead of answers.

They take a closer look at what’s behind that pattern. Gaps in menstrual education, cultural silence, and limited research leave many patients unsure whether to trust their own experiences. Endometriosis comes into focus as they talk through diagnostic limits, invasive and expensive treatment options, and insurance barriers that make care hard to access.

The episode also offers practical guidance on self-advocacy. Dr. Harrison encourages patients to bring clear information to appointments, including bleeding patterns, pain locations, and how symptoms affect work, school, and relationships. If your period interferes with your life, it isn’t normal. The conversation wraps up by talking about prevention-focused, cycle-based care, and why understanding your menstrual cycle can help you make better decisions about your health long-term.

Episode Breakdown:

00:30 Meet Dr. Margo Harrison: OB-GYN, Planned Parenthood Clinician, And Founder Of Wave By

03:30 The Wake-Up Call: “My Abortion Was Less Painful Than My Period”

05:00 Why Severe Menstrual Pain Gets Dismissed In Women’s Health

09:30 Endometriosis Reality Check: Limited Diagnostics, Treatments, And High Costs

15:30 How To Advocate At The Gynecologist With Clear Data And Symptoms

24:00 Prevention-First Menstrual Pain Relief And Premenstrual NSAIDs

28:30 Wave By Explained: Cycle Regulation, PCOS Support, And Period Pain Options

37:30 Why Menstrual Suffering Was Normalized And What Must Change Next

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Before listening, please note that this episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss and child loss. These topics can be deeply personal, so take care of yourself as you listen and feel free to pause, skip, or come back when it feels right for you.

Endometriosis does not always show up as pelvic pain. For many women, it looks like years of unexplained symptoms, quiet self-doubt, and being told everything is fine when it clearly is not. When Rachael Cohen shared her story in a viral post about missed diagnoses, infertility, and ultimately pursuing excision surgery, it resonated because it named what so many experience but struggle to explain.

In this episode, Callie Greenberg sits with Rachael to talk through nearly a decade of chronic gastrointestinal pain, pregnancy loss, IVF, and the long road to an endometriosis diagnosis. They reflect on how often women are asked to normalize extreme discomfort, trust reassurance over instinct, and keep going without answers. What happens when your body keeps asking for help and the system keeps missing the point?

The conversation also explores advocacy and the moment when waiting is no longer an option. Rachael shares what it took to push forward toward excision surgery, and why being believed mattered as much as the diagnosis itself. It highlights what it means to keep advocating for yourself when certainty feels out of reach.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Content Note: Pregnancy Loss and Child Loss

02:51 Viral Instagram Story and Sharing an Endometriosis Diagnosis

04:45 Chronic GI Pain for a Decade and Missed Endometriosis Symptoms

09:21 Miscarriage, Triploidy, and the Shock of No Heartbeat

11:09 Partial Molar Pregnancy and HCG Monitoring Fear

17:05 IVF After Loss and Chemical Pregnancy Confusion

20:17 Endometriosis With GI Symptoms and the “Silent Endometriosis” Myth

27:10 Excision Surgery Planning and Why Endometriosis Specialists Matter

30:23 Emergency Room Admission and Excision Surgery Confirmation

38:03 IVF Isolation, Endometriosis Grief, and Finding Community

53:15 “What If Someone Had Believed Me”: Endometriosis Advocacy and Next Steps

Connect with Rachael Cohen:

Follow Rachael on Instagram

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

When endometriosis pain is normalized and women are dismissed, cannabis often enters the conversation as both a medical option and a source of tension.

Callie Greenberg speaks with Melanie Wentzel, an international speaker, healthcare strategist, and bestselling author of Cannabis Queens, about cannabis, pain management, and endometriosis through a women’s-health-forward lens. They unpack how stigma, limited research, and delayed diagnosis have shaped the way chronic pelvic pain is treated, and why cannabis continues to sit outside mainstream care despite its long history and growing evidence.

The conversation goes deeper than symptom relief. It asks what happens when women are expected to tolerate pain instead of being supported, and what pain management could look like if curiosity replaced dismissal. This episode invites listeners to rethink how care is defined, who gets taken seriously, and what becomes possible when women’s pain is finally treated as worthy of real solutions.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Endo Warriors

01:30 Melanie Wentzel’s Path Into Cannabis and Health System Reform

04:45 Women’s History With Cannabis and the Roots of Stigma

12:47 Cannabis, Chronic Pain, and Endometriosis

19:55 The Endocannabinoid System and How Cannabis Works

25:16 The Real Cost of Endometriosis and Chronic Pain on Women’s Lives

32:15 How Cannabis Supports Pain Relief and Nervous System Balance

39:28 Cannabis Delivery Methods, Dosage, and Safe Use

49:27 Side Effects, Safety, and Responsible Cannabis Use

52:45 Hormones, Menstrual Cycles, and Personalized Cannabis Response

01:00:50 Where to Find Melanie Wentzel and Cannabis Queens

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Living with an invisible chronic illness often means trusting yourself before the system catches up. How do you know when something is wrong if no one else can see it?

Callie Greenberg reconnects with longtime friend Lauren Buchsbaum for an honest conversation about life with a chronic inflammatory condition and the reality of navigating care that often feels incomplete. Although Lauren lives with ulcerative colitis, her experience mirrors many of the same challenges faced by people with endometriosis and other autoimmune conditions.

Lauren shares what it was like to receive treatment without clear explanations and to live with symptoms and side effects she was never warned about. She reflects on how that uncertainty pushed her to ask better questions, seek holistic support, and become a stronger advocate for herself. The conversation explores the connection between physical symptoms, mental health, and daily habits, along with the emotional weight of living with an illness others cannot see.

This episode offers a reminder that healing is rarely about one answer. It is about learning your baseline, listening closely to your body, and making small, supportive changes that help you feel more like yourself again.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Endo Warriors and Lauren Buchsbaum’s Story

01:55 Early Symptoms, Misdiagnosis, and Feeling Dismissed

03:20 Learning to Advocate for Yourself in Chronic Illness Care

05:20 Accepting New Baselines and Listening to Your Body

06:45 The Emotional Weight of Invisible Illness

10:15 Steroids, Side Effects, and Finding Specialized Care

14:38 Anxiety, Dehydration, and the Mind-Body Connection

18:42 Food Triggers, Nutrition, and Inflammation

24:16 Blending Western and Holistic Approaches

28:01 Gentle Movement and Somatic Therapy for Healing

32:18 Advice for Anyone Newly Diagnosed

Connect with Lauren Buchsbaum: Follow Lauren on Instagram

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Medical gaslighting reshapes the mind as much as the body… and this episode explores how endometriosis can slowly strip a woman’s voice, confidence, and sense of safety long before she ever receives a diagnosis.

Callie Greenberg is joined by clinical therapist and former OR nurse Marissa Chabai for a look at what repeated dismissal does to a person’s intuition and mental health. How does someone start to doubt their own reality? What happens to the nervous system when every appointment feels like a battle? Marissa explains why chronic survival mode becomes so common for women with endo and how it fuels anxiety, depression, and isolation.

They also talk about the moments that feel hardest to say out loud: freezing in medical settings, withdrawing socially, and trying to advocate for yourself in workplaces that often have little understanding of pelvic pain. Marissa offers support as well as strategies that help rebuild a sense of safety in the body, from simple nervous system resets to preparing for appointments with more clarity and confidence.

This episode is an invitation to reflect on your own experience with pain and disbelief and to consider what it might feel like to be truly supported. It reinforces a message so many women rarely hear: your symptoms are real, your story matters, and you deserve care that meets you with respect rather than doubt.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Endo Warriors

01:24 Marissa’s Journey from Nurse to Therapist

03:44 The Mental Toll of Medical Gaslighting

09:04 How Chronic Stress Impacts the Nervous System

15:43 Isolation and Emotional Fallout of Endometriosis

23:11 Advocating for Yourself in the Workplace

25:04 Simple Nervous System Regulation Tools

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Callie Greenberg introduces Endo Warriors by opening up about her twenty-four year search for answers and the way endometriosis shaped her health, her decisions, and her sense of self long before anyone gave it a name. She shares the reality of being pushed into surgical menopause at thirty-nine and the grief that comes with infertility, late diagnosis, and a body that had been asking for help for decades. Her story invites real reflection. How many women learn to downplay symptoms that deserve immediate care? What happens when a system built to treat us keeps missing the truth right in front of it?

Callie created this podcast to give others what she never had: a place where people navigating endometriosis or early menopause feel understood instead of dismissed. She hopes each episode helps listeners feel less alone and more grounded in their own experience.

Join Callie as she builds a community rooted in real stories, honest conversations, and the shared strength that comes from finally being heard!

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Endo Warriors

02:19 Medical Dismissal and the Reality of Women’s Health

04:45 A 24-Year Search for an Endometriosis Diagnosis

07:00 Early Symptoms and Severe Period Pain

16:04 Escalating Pain and Repeated ER Visits

20:48 The First Doctor Who Finally Believed Her

22:07 Learning the Severity of Advanced Endometriosis

25:27 Surgery, IVF, and the Return of Endometriomas

27:46 Grieving Infertility and Choosing Hysterectomy

32:04 Why Endo Warriors Was Created

Connect with Callie Greenberg:

Visit the Own My Endo website

Follow Endo Warriors on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm