Comedian and actor Amy Schumer has revealed she has had her uterus and appendix removed due to endometriosis.
Over the weekend, Schumer posted a photo and video directly from hospital, telling her followers that if they “have really painful periods”, they might have endometriosis.
In the video, taken the morning after surgery, Schumer explained how her doctor had found “30 spots of endometriosis”, and that it had attacked her appendix. She said there was a lot of blood in her uterus, and her doctor removed both her uterus and appendix.
“So it’s the morning after my sugery for endometriosis, and my uterus is out,” she said.
“There was a lot, a lot of blood in my uterus. I’m, you know, sore and I have some, like, gas pains.”
Schumer has previously been open about living with endometriosis, a painful condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus.
In Australia, around 1 in 9 people who menstruate are diagnosed with the inflammatory condition by the time they reach the age of 44. Endometriosis is under-recognised and under-researched condition, and on average, it takes 6.5 years to receive a diagnosis.
Endometriosis can negatively affect a person’s life through pain and management of chronic illness, it can also have long-lasting impacts on mental health and wellbeing, intimate relationships, employment and education.
Schumer gave birth to her son in 2019, and has previously talked about her struggles with IVF. She also has been open about how her endometriosis made giving birth to her son much more difficult.
Last year, she also discussed the risks of trying to have a second child, saying “IVF was really tough on me”.
“I don’t think I could ever do IVF again. I decided that I can’t be pregnant ever again. We thought about a surrogate, but I think we’re going to hold off for right now,” she told Sunday Today with Willie Geist.