On September 13, 2021, Amy Schumer walked the Met Gala red carpet in an extravagant long dress. And for good reason, it was dressed in a hospital gown, from her post-operative room, that she spoke a few days later to her 10 million subscribers to talk about the major operation she was undergoing. had just suffered.
In order to treat the endometriosis she has suffered from for several years, the actress had her uterus and appendix removed.
'I'm sore'
In a short video and photo taken from her hospital room, Amy Schumer (who will star in Stephen Karam's upcoming film, The Humans), briefly described the procedure she had just undergone to relieve her endometriosis.
“It’s the morning after my surgery for endometriosis, and my uterus was removed. The doctor found 30 endometriosis stitches which he removed. He removed my appendix because endometriosis had attacked it. There was a lot of blood in my uterus, and I'm sore. »
In the comments, among the messages of support, the testimonies of people who have undergone the same type of operation or are preparing to do so are multiplying. No wonder, when you know that the disease would affect nearly one in ten menstruating people!
If the star says little about her private life, she had already spoken about her state of health, especially after her delivery by cesarean section which had dragged on because of the disease.
No, having pain during your period is not normal
"If you have really painful periods, you may have #endometriosis", warns the actress on the Instagram post in question.
Endometriosis is a chronic, inflammatory disease in which the tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of it, usually in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and pelvic area, making pain periods that are difficult to bear and can cause fertility problems.
In some cases, as with actress Amy Schumer, it can develop in the rectum, bladder, kidneys, lungs, appendix and cause extremely disabling pain.
When medical treatment fails, most often, people with endometriosis have to go under the knife to remove the lesions in question.
In France, endometriosis affects nearly 10% of women of childbearing age. But even today, the disease remains little and belatedly diagnosed, health professionals being poorly trained to diagnose it (when they do not minimize the symptoms experienced by their patients). Radiologist Erick Petit, expert in endometriosis, explains:
“We live on the myth of normal painful periods. We place female pelvic pain in the psychic category, and we evacuate the problem. Female pain is not considered a subject”
Hence the various awareness campaigns about the disease and the speaking out of many stars who are affected.
Because Amy Schumer is not the first to shed light on this disorder: a few years ago, Lena Dunham explained her decision to undergo a hysterectomy at the age of 31 to relieve the pain associated with her endometriosis. More recently, Chrissy Teigen spoke on Twitter after her miscarriage about her surgery to treat her endometriosis and asked her followers for advice on managing post-surgery pain.
If the few words spoken by the stars will probably not be enough to solve the lack of training of health personnel or to improve the course of care, they have the merit of lifting the veil on the disease. And who knows, maybe some will recognize themselves in the journey of these celebrities and get the treatment they deserve!
Also read: It took 5 years and 5 gynecologists to diagnose my endometriosis
Photo credits: @amyschumer
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