Australian singer, Nova FM radio host and Australian Idol host Ricki-Lee has detailed her long journey with endometriosis.
In a candid Instagram post and accompanying photos, she explained that after years of chronic debilitating pain, this week she’s had a laparoscopy and excision surgery, which removed all the endometriosis surgeons could find.
Endometriosis affects the lives of roughly 10% of the world’s population, the WHO reports—a staggering 190 million sufferers across the globe.
WHO describes endometriosis as “a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant. Endometriosis can start at a person’s first menstrual period and last until menopause.”
The condition leads to scarring and inflammation around the tissue, causing severe, life-impacting and often debilitating pain in the pelvic region. While there is no cause, cure or prevention strategy for endometriosis, medicines and surgery can treat the condition in cases like Ricki-Lee’s. You can find out more about endometriosis here.
Writing in an Instagram caption, Ricki-Lee revealed that she’s been living with chronic pain “for over a decade,” and it’s progressively gotten worse.
“Over the years I have seen so many doctors and specialists, and have been down so many different paths to try and figure out what was going on – and for so long I thought the pain was just something I had to deal with,” she wrote. “But the past couple of years, it has become almost unbearable, and is something I’ve been dealing with every single day.”
She continued, “I met with a new GP at the start of the year, who referred me to a new specialist, and we went through all the measures that have been taken to try and get to the bottom of this pain – and the only option left was surgery.
“So this week I had a laparoscopy & excision surgery – and they removed all the endometriosis they found, and I can only hope that is the end of the pain”.
Ricki-Lee is now recovering at home and “feeling good”, writing that her husband, Richard Harrison, is taking good care of her.
Last month, Ricki-Lee released her first album in ten years, On My Own. In addition to the new album, Ricki-Lee told The Music in a recent interview that she’s founded her own record label and owns her masters.
