March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and one Bronx resident is sharing her story with the disease.

Endometriosis is a disease that causes severe pain and infertility in women. Stephanie Bauer tells News 12 that lower back and head pain as well as bloating were daily occurrences.

“It would make me miss work at least once a month," she says. Bauer is a competitive weightlifter - but because of the pain, she wouldn't be able to get out of bed.

Bauer was introduced to Dr. Kari Plewniak, a gynecologist at Montefiore, and that's when she was diagnosed with endometriosis.

Plewniak describes it as “a chronic inflammatory condition where tissue that looks like the endometrium, the lining of the uterine cavity is found outside of the uterus."

It's a disease the doctor says can be found in 1 in 11 women.

“A red flag for us is always painful periods that are getting in the way of someone’s really basic living," Plewniak says.

Plewniak adds nothing can actually cure the disease, but there are treatments that can help those affected live a more comfortable life.