Lupita Nyong’o 'Suffered In Silence' From 77 Uterine Fibroids
Lupita Nyong’o Fights Back After ‘Suffering In Silence’ From 77 Uterine Fibroids
For Lupita Nyong’o’s birthday, her wish is to save other women from “suffering in silence” as she did with 77 uterine fibroids. “This is not a rare story, just a rarely told one,” she wrote.
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star celebrated her 43rd birthday by sharing her experience with fibroids. She took to Instagram on March 1 with a heartfelt message about the very common but rarely discussed noncancerous tumors that grow on or in the uterus. The reproductive disorder can cause “constant pain” in the back and pelvis, miscarriages, infertility and “dangerous amounts of “blood loss.”
Lupita Nyong’o Celebrates Her Birthday With A Painful Revelation: What Her 77 Fibroids Look Like
The post included two photos: An MRI of the invasive growths plaguing Nyong’o’s abdomen and a portrait of herself with a large basket of fruit. Doctors frequently use various fruits to help visualize the size of fibroids. Each grape, berry, lime, apple, and orange she is holding represents the 77 fibroids she has lived with.
“Today is my birthday, and it’s got me feeling reflective. Not about age, but about a different number: 77. Over the course of my lifetime, I have carried 77 uterine fibroids: 25 surgically removed, and more than 50 still growing inside me today, the largest the size of an orange,” the post began.
“This is not a rare story. It is just a rarely told one. I have endured seasons of constant pain, losing dangerous amounts of blood each month, and suffering in silence. In this image, I’m holding 77 fruits, as a symbol for each fibroid, to make visible the weight that I, and millions of women like me, carry every day,” Nyong’o continued.
The Oscar winner shared that “the response was overwhelming” from other women after she broke her silence last year. This inspired her to launch the Make Fibroids Count campaign with the Foundation for Women’s Health “to raise funds and awareness for uterine fibroid research.” Nyong’o hopes the efforts will develop more minimally invasive and non-invasive uterine fibroid treatments.
“So, my birthday wish is a world where no woman has to suffer through fibroids untreated, undertreated, or unheard. To get there, we need research. And research needs funding.
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Every dollar goes toward research that could change or even save a woman’s life. Maybe someone you love. Maybe someone you are… ” she continued.Read how Lupita Nyong’o discovered fibroids the same year as her Oscar win and the increased risks Black women face after the flip.
