Washington [US], February 4 : Actor and 'Dancing with the Stars 21' winner Bindi Irwin shared a health update after over 10 years of serious illness.
She talked about being "really, really sick" before she was diagnosed with endometriosis, reported People.
She recalled dealing with hidden health issues for over a decade on the recent episode of the A Life of Greatness podcast with host Sarah Grynberg.
"The only people that knew that I was incredibly unwell ... my husband, my mom and my brother, and behind closed doors I was struggling to do anything and everything," said Bindi, while giving reference to her mom Terri Irwin, 60, her brother Robert Irwin, 21, and her husband Chandler Powell, 28, with whom she shares their daughter Grace, 3, per the outlet.
"It resulted in a lot of cancelled plans, people must have thought I was just incredibly flaky because I was getting so sick from this disease that I would try to get up and I would just throw up, I was in so much pain all the time. Every day the fatigue and the battle," added Bindi.
She said endometriosis "is an enormous problem for so many people and it's not being talked about a lot," adding, "I went for 10 years undiagnosed because doctors really didn't know enough, they diagnosed me with a million other things, like IBS, or hormones or 'It's just part of being a woman.' The symptoms continued to snowball and it took me such a long time to find help and it's a story that so many women and girls know all too well."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), endometriosis "is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis," reported People.
Prior to the diagnosis, Bindi shared that she underwent "every scan you could imagine", CT scans, MRI scans, ultrasounds, and blood tests, as well as being "tested for every tropical disease" and was told "there's nothing wrong with you" by doctors despite "getting more and more unwell."
Later, she ended up going to "a lovely surgeon in the US" who operated on her and "found over 30 lesions," she said.
"Basically it attacks anywhere and everywhere ... it affects everybody differently. It can affect women in many different ways from fertility issues to extreme pain and fatigue, heavy bleeding," added Bindi. "For me, if I hadn't gotten surgery, the next five years of my life would have been very make or break because I was having real problems internally."
"I had an enormous chocolate cyst that had adhered my ovary to my side so I was just in agonizing pain and it just doesn't show up on scans for whatever reason," she said, adding that once her daughter was born, she realized she had to do something, as per the outlet.
Bindi said, "I'm so grateful to be on the other side of surgery. There's no cure for endometriosis but if you're able to get surgery you have a better shot at life. Maybe in five of 10 years, I'll have to get another surgery but for now, it's all gone, which I'm very grateful for."
"I was so scared to share my story, I had never talked about being unwell, because I thought it was all in my head. After a dozen doctors tell you you're crazy, you start to believe them," she shared, reported People.
While praising her family for supporting her, Bindi said they "dealt with it for 10-plus years just as much as I did, trying to find answers and helping me along the way and saying, 'Hey, you're collapsed on the floor. You probably should get some help and you shouldn't listen to the doctors saying this is normal.' "
"You turn to the medical industry looking for assistance and it can cause anxiety and depression ... this disease and other women's health issues can be extremely isolating for people," she shared, claiming that her surgeon's words really helped after the operation, reported People.