Bindi Irwin has revealed her decade-long battle with endometriosis and how having her daughter made the disease worse for her. Photo / Getty Images
Bindi Irwin has revealed her decade-long battle with endometriosis and how having her daughter made the disease worse for her. Photo / Getty Images
After putting her little girl down for a nap, busy mum and conservationist Bindi Irwin has taken to Instagram to open up about the “insurmountable” pain felt “every single day” for the past 10 years as she battled with what would eventually be diagnosed as endometriosis - a disease that became so bad after she had her daughter that she struggled to care for her.
Speaking quietly so as not to wake baby Grace Warrior, the daughter of famous Australian conservationist Steve Irwin shared that she was making her video to answer questions from “thousands and thousands” of people who had asked her about endometriosis.
“It has been a very long journey and a lot of challenges to get to this point,” she said.
“I’m very thankful to be on the other side of excision surgery. I can officially say I’m finally feeling better - something I never thought I’d say.”
Irwin said: “I had pain every single day of my life. Suddenly, no matter where we went, where we were going, I would be falling asleep. I felt like I constantly had the flu.”
In March, Irwin went public with the condition, which causes tissue to grow outside of the uterus and can spread to the bowel, fallopian tubes and other organs causing severe pain, heavy bleeding and infertility.
Irwin described the pain before she underwent surgery as being so bad “it would quite literally just knock me over”.
From the age of 14, Irwin “really started noticing [her] symptoms”. She experienced “extreme fatigue and nausea and pain”, and not just during her period as she says many people assume is the case.
Explaining that not everyone will have the same symptoms and that the disease can be difficult to detect because it may not show up on scans and blood tests, Irwin says she underwent “every blood test you could possibly imagine”, CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds looking for an answer to her pain.
“We tried and tried and tried for years and years and years, and finally, a doctor told me it was just part of being a woman.
“And that’s when I gave up. I stopped looking for answers.”
It wasn’t until she had her daughter in 2021, that she began her search for a diagnosis again. Because after giving birth, her symptoms became worse.
“I had pain in my pelvis, pains in my belly, every day. But every now and then, the pain would get so much that it would literally just knock me over.”
Becoming emotional, Irwin recalled the “countless times of Grace needing me, and me crawling to her cot at night.
“I can remember being with Grace and lying on the floor in agony. I had a stabbing pain in my side. I couldn’t get up, or I would throw up. And I was scared I would pass out.
“I was so scared because I was worried if I was alone with Grace, something would happen to me and she would be on her own.”
Irwin with her husband, Chandler Powell, and their daughter, Grace. Photo / Instagram
Irwin told a friend what she was experiencing and as it turned out the friend had been diagnosed with endometriosis. They encouraged Irwin to undergo laparoscopic surgery to confirm that she had the same condition.
From here, while in the US with her family, Irwin underwent excision surgery - one of two options that has overall better outcomes but is more costly and less commonly performed.
For Endometriosis Awareness Month, I want everyone to understand the difference between the two endo removal techniques and why excision is superior. We need to invest in more training of excision specialists, especially here in Australia. pic.twitter.com/lgDmpftuYx
A total of 37 lesions and a cyst on her ovary, a sign of “aggressive” endometriosis, were found and removed. But it is likely Irwin will require further surgery for the disease in the future.
She shared that five months on from her operation, “I can officially say that I’m finally feeling better, which is truly extraordinary and something that I actually never thought that I would say.
“I feel like I got a second chance at life … I feel like a new woman.”
Bindi Irwin revealed she’s been struggling for 10 years with undiagnosed endometriosis. Photo / Instagram
Irwin went on to say “there needs to be a huge shift in our healthcare system”.
“I really hope there is a shift within society to be able to give people with endometriosis the tools that they need – not only for diagnosis, but more access to surgery, more access to being able to afford these surgeries,” she said.
“I mean, my goodness. It is such a toll on families to be able to go out and get this diagnosis … My fear of them not finding anything [during surgery] was really, really, really taking over my life. I was so scared.
“But I’m very thankful that my family is so supportive. Not everybody is lucky to have that supportive family, so we need to have a better system so that people don’t feel so isolated and alone. Endometriosis is a very lonely disease. We need to be able to rally around people with endo.”
