Lena Dunham Reveals She Had A Full Hysterectomy Due To Ongoing Battle With Endometriosis

We haven’t heard about anything Lena Dunham-related in quite some time. I was beginning to wonder why she’s been so quiet. We couldn’t shut her up in 2016.

It looks like she had a pretty legitimate reason. She revealed she recently had a full hysterectomy due to her ongoing battle with endometriosis.

In an essay featured in the March 2018 issue of Vogue, Lena reveals that, after the procedure, she awoke to learn her reproductive organs were even more mangled than she had known. “In addition to endometrial disease,” wrote Lena, 31, “an odd hump-like protrusion and a septum running down the middle, I have retrograde bleeding, a.k.a. my period running in reverse so that my stomach is full of blood. My ovary has settled in on the muscles around the sacral nerves in my back that allow us to walk. Let’s please not even talk about my uterine lining. The only beautiful detail is that the organ—which is meant to be shaped like a light bulb—was shaped like a heart.”

Lena says her decision to undergo the elective surgery was a tough one, following “years of complex surgeries measuring in the double digits” and even alternative treatments like “pelvic floor therapy, massage therapy, pain therapy, color therapy, acupuncture,” and yoga.

Lena and I disagree on just about everything in existence, but I’m sorry she’s gone through this. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. And getting a hysterectomy– especially at such a young age– … that’s tough.

Lena has been hospitalized at least three times in less than a year for endometriosis. Last April, she underwent surgery to free her ovaries from her rectal wall. Afterward, Lena declared she was endometriosis-free. But, sadly, on May 1, during her appearance at the Met Gala in NYC, she was rushed to a local hospital for complications. Days later, Lena canceled her nationwide “Lenny IRL” tour, telling fans that she was, “in the greatest amount of physical pain that I have ever experienced” after doctors discovered more endometriosis during subsequent surgery.

For those wondering, Lena isn’t taking kids off the table. She’s delighted she still has options.

“I may have felt choiceless before, but I know I have choices now,” she writes. “Soon I’ll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs. Adoption is a thrilling truth I’ll pursue with all my might.”

I’m glad to hear she’s thrilled about adoption. Maybe she’ll do it, it’ll be an amazingly positive experience for her and she’ll realize that adoption is far superior to abortion and become a massive advocate for life.

Eh. A girl can dream.

h/t Endometriosis Foundation of America