Porsha Williams is recovering well after undergoing emergency surgery to remove multiple fibroids, and months later, she’s opening up to fans about the experience.
The The Real Housewives of Atlanta star shared a thank-you message on Instagram Friday (September 18), just hours after first revealing details about the procedure, which took place in May.
“Thank you for all of the love and support today. My heart is so full,” Williams wrote. “I just pray that by being brave enough to share my loss, my journey through surgery, and my new quality of life, my story will inspire women to take charge of their health and their bodies.”
The 45-year-old ended her message by showing compassion for followers who opened up about going through similar health challenges. “Please know that you are seen, heard and never alone. I love you all and thank you to my family and my partner for your support,” she concluded.
In a new interview with Glamour, the reality star revealed that the surgery removed her uterus while leaving her ovaries intact. Doctors discovered 21 fibroids during the procedure, with the largest roughly the size of a cantaloupe.
An MRI conducted before the surgery had detected 15 large fibroids, along with endometriosis and an issue involving her uterine lining. Williams initially attributed symptoms including heavy periods, migraines, and fatigue to perimenopause.
“I had symptoms but, you know, I’m 45 years old, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, maybe perimenopause,’” Williams told Gayle King on CBS Mornings this week.
Williams discovered the issue after accompanying a friend to a fertility appointment to discuss freezing her eggs. While there, the RHOA star decided to request an examination of her own.
“She went silent and I looked at the screen and all I could see was like black and then I started seeing some circular lines and I’m like, ‘Not again,'” Williams said.
The fertility specialist who Williams was referred to arranged for her to undergo an MRI, and just two weeks later, she was in surgery. Williams first learned she had fibroids on the same day she discovered she was pregnant at 30. One of the fibroids eventually outgrew the pregnancy, resulting in a miscarriage at four months. She underwent a myomectomy the following year, but the fibroids returned during her pregnancy with her daughter Pilar, whom Williams gave birth to in 2019.
“I woke up after the surgery and thought, ‘A part of me is gone,'” she said. “Fibroids aren’t something we usually talk about as women, and neither are hysterectomies. There’s a stigma to it, as if you’re somehow less of a woman without your uterus.”
Williams is now encouraging women to consult medical professionals instead of relying on potentially inaccurate self-diagnoses. “We have to stop diagnosing ourselves,” she said. “We need to learn to advocate for ourselves.”
