Bindi Irwin revealed her endometriosis battle in an Instagram video, claiming she began experiencing symptoms when she was 14 and had been looking for answers for years.
Bindi Irwin is speaking out about her endometriosis battle. Oh my God! The It's The Irwins actor, 24, answered fan concerns regarding her history with endometriosis, a reproductive condition in which uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus, causing cramps and persistent agony, in an Instagram video on Friday.
Irwin, who originally revealed her illness in March, claimed in the video that she began "noticing" symptoms when she was 14 years old and would frequently experience "extreme fatigue, nausea, and pain." She claimed she had been looking for answers for years, having blood tests, CT scans, and MRI ultrasounds all of which revealed she did not have the illness.
She eventually stopped looking for answers when one doctor informed her that her agony was "just part of being a woman." However, it wasn't until she gave birth to her daughter Grace several years later that the anguish grew more "intense." "After having beautiful Grace, my pain levels were out of this world," she said.
"I can remember Grace needing me countless times and me crawling to her cot at night," she explained. "I remember being with Grace and just laying on the floor in agony because I had stabbing pain in my side and couldn't get up." Or I'd puke up, or I was afraid I'd pass out." "I was terrified because I was afraid that if I was alone with Grace, something would happen to me and she would be on her own," she explained.
She said she realised she needed to act when her family went on their yearly crocodile research trip in August 2022. "The pain hit me out of nowhere," she explained. "I had to hand Grace over to Mom and just curl up in the foetal position on the ground because the stabbing pain in my side was insurmountable."
She stated she didn't realise she had endometriosis until her friend Leslie told her tale, and their symptoms matched. Her friend advised her to have exploratory surgery to determine the extent of her endometriosis. Irwin stated that she chose to have the operation in December around the holidays so that both her and her husband Chandler Powell's families could be present to care for Grace as she healed. She stated that they discovered 37 lesions and a chocolate cyst on her ovary, which she later had surgically removed.
Irwin thanked her mother and brother in the video description for "being there with me every step of the way," and claimed it was "because of them" that she had a "second chance at life." She also expressed gratitude to her husband's parents for caring for Grace during her operation, as well as the Australia Zoo/Wildlife Warriors team for their "support" while she was away.
Finally, she thanked her admirers for their support and queries about her experience. "Thank YOU for your incredible questions about my endometriosis journey; I hope this video sheds some light on my story to help you or someone you know who is battling this disease," she wrote at the end of the clip.
