Illinois woman finds relief after decades of debilitating pain

CHICAGO - For most of her life, 37-year-old Sage D’Amato lived with excruciating pain, describing it as feeling like she was giving birth every month.

Now, thanks to a complex surgery performed by Northwestern Medicine doctors, she is pain-free for the first time in more than two decades.

What we know:

D’Amato was born with a rare uterine anomaly that affects just 0.03% of the population.

By her early teens, she began experiencing intense menstrual pain that left her bedridden. The pain worsened over the years, eventually leading to a diagnosis of stage 3 endometriosis—a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, often impacting surrounding organs.

Despite multiple surgeries, including the removal of an ovarian cyst and a procedure to treat her endometriosis, nothing provided lasting relief.

She was eventually referred to specialists at Northwestern Medicine, where doctors discovered that her endometriosis was so severe it was blocking her ureter—the tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

A team of two Northwestern surgeons performed a complex operation to treat the condition. One removed her uterus, while the other cleared the blockage from her ureter and re-implanted it into her bladder. The surgery was a success, and for the first time in 20 years, D’Amato is living without pain.

What's next:

Now that she is pain-free, D’Amato is using her experience to encourage other women to advocate for their health. She urges those suffering from similar symptoms to seek second opinions and push for answers.