Katie Rioux was left undiagnosed with endometriosis for 25 years — despite the suffering she experienced, she didn’t let it define her life.
Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease, often hard to detect as it lines up with the menstrual cycle.
The disease works through a misplaced tissue that grows over time and affects other tissues, mainly the pelvic cavity, from the ovaries and down to the bladder.
It acts similarly to the lining inside the uterus, but grows outside it — with the blood having nowhere to go, it can cause pain and affect fertility.
Although some women may have the disease since birth, it’s not typically diagnosed until they’re of fertile age due to late recognition.
Because of this, Rioux’s suffering was often dismissed as normal cramps despite having experienced the pain since she was 12 years old.
“I probably spent about 15 years really trying to get to the root of, why is this so painful?” she said.
Getting diagnosed
In 2022, Rioux had exploratory surgery, where a surgeon found evidence of endometriosis and diagnosed her.
“Personally, it was a huge relief [finding out] because it was like, ‘Okay, there is something going on down there. I’m not crazy.’ Because a lot of women that deal with this, they’re told they’re crazy, right? And it’s just not true,” said Rioux.
Endometriosis can complicate a woman’s ability to get pregnant, something that Rioux knew she wanted to do.
A close friend, Tanya Puka, was aware of Rioux’s desire to become a mother and felt compassion for her.
“It gave me a lot of understanding for her in terms of what she had been carrying and working through, and generally, sadness,” said Puka when looking back on finding out her friend’s diagnosis, “I just had a lot more understanding into her journey.”
However, she also commends Rioux’s strength in fighting to have her story heard without understating her experience.
“I’m just grateful that she is the fighter she is. She is someone who doesn’t back down from a challenge,” said Puka.
Seeking treatment
Rather than feeling sorry for herself, Rioux chose to look towards the next step.
After her first surgery in Calgary, where she had portions of her endometriosis tissue removed, she could feel a difference in her cycles but knew there was still more to be done.
In Canada, surgery for endometriosis consists of a long wait list and, for some women, it can also require multiple surgeries.
So when Rioux found a specialized doctor in endometriosis with a low percentage of repeated surgeries, she travelled to St. Louis, Mo. in the U.S. for her second operation.
“I’m very blessed that we had the funds to be able to go do that because not many people have access to that — where they could come up with X amount of money and fly down to the States and have another surgery,” she said.
As a specialized surgeon, Rioux says Doctor Patrick Yeung knew what to look for to treat Rioux’s endometriosis.
For about four and a half hours, Rioux underwent a laparoscopic surgery, which included removing her appendix as it had the disease.
In November of 2024, Rioux was treated at the Restore Center for Endometriosis.
Because it’s an inflammatory disease, there is a chance for it to come back.
However, Rioux chooses to believe she has left it behind in St. Louis.
Now, she’s focused on her well-being and avoiding potentially triggering inflammatory foods, such as highly processed meals.
“I’ve always been very passionate about [my] health, and so my endo never got really, really bad,” she says. “So I think all of those things that I did from an early age probably helped minimize what stage I technically could have been.”
A story of pain and success
Today, Rioux is a successful interior designer and founder of DWK Interiors, which originated as Decorate with Kate, a blog she created while still working with her mother.
At that time, her mother bought a design franchise, which Rioux was part of for about five years before she had her own business.
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Rioux originally studied for a degree in business, but it wasn’t until later on, when she wanted to start her own company, that she took over the interior design corporation so her mother could retire.
“I would say the transition was pretty easy because I had her mentorship. And, I mean, I was around her business my whole life, right? So it wasn’t really foreign to me,” she said.
Rioux works with two other designers, Jenn MacDonald and Candice Arcuri.
Together, they work to ensure their clients are pleased with their homes.
“It’s a great way to create relationships with people,” Rioux says.
Before they met ten years ago, MacDonald had encountered Rioux’s ad for hire multiple times before deciding it was a sign to check her out.
“It felt a little bit like destiny,” MacDonald said.
Through those years of working together, MacDonald sees Rioux as an honest and kind-hearted person.
“She’s always encouraging us to take time off because she truly believes that to be better, you need to have a little bit of rest time, a little bit of reflection time,” she said.
Beyond that, MacDonald also believes Rioux is a passionate leader with a unique sense of style.
“She’s not trying to be something she’s not. She’s just… she is who she is. And we all love her for that,” MacDonald says.
Puka says she thinks Rioux isn’t as aware of the impact of her presence.
“When she really trusts you, she really shows all that she is,” Puka says. “I think anyone who’s close with her is lucky to be close with her. She is such a pillar and an advocate herself, for her friends and her family.”
For anyone who is under or at risk of endometriosis, Rioux wants to tell people: Don’t be afraid to speak out about your pain.
“If my story can help one other woman detect this sooner, that would be my gift to somebody.”