Comedian Lilly Singh has shared her experience of being admitted to the emergency room after being diagnosed with ovarian cysts.
The YouTube star, who became famous under her pseudonym Superwoman, posted a video about the medical issue on her Instagram account.
The video showed her laying in a hospital bed with a face mask on and rolling her eyes as the song “Smokin’ Out The Window” by Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars played in the background.
Over the video, Singh put text that read: “Learning there are cysts on my ovaries.”
She told her 11 million followers in the caption: “Spent the last day in the ER because my ovaries have the AUDACITY to be wilding out. Both of them have cysts.
“And I’m just out here like REALLY B?! Let me understand this. You’re doing to make me suffer once a month and then IN ADDITION, stab me in between periods?!
“WOW. THE ENTITLEMENT… the NERVE. IM WEAKKKK… [sic]”
Singh then struck a more serious note and added: “No but actually. It hurts and I’m tired lol but I truly expect nothing less than my organs doing the most. After all I am their mother.”
Fans and friends wished her a speedy recovery, including Canadian comedian Howie Mandel, who wrote: “I’m here if you need anything.”
Some fans wrote about their own experiences with ovarian cysts under Singh’s post and urged her to take care of herself.
One person wrote: “I have those too and let me tell you. I used to faint every time I got my period.”
Another added: “I recently had a cyst the size of a tennis ball that ruptured and it was the most excruciating pain of my life. Worse than unmedicated childbirth.”
A third spoke of how she was nine when she first learned she had developed cysts on her ovaries, describing it as “hell in the body and on earth”.
Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs that sometimes develop on the ovary, and are very common. The US Office on Women’s Health says most women make “at least one follicle or corpus luteum cyst every month”, and only eight per cent of pre-menopausal women develop cysts that require treatment.
They do not usually cause any symptoms and go away within a few months without needing treatment.
According to the NHS, ovarian cysts usually only cause symptoms if they rupture, are very large or block the blood supply to the ovaries.
Patients may experience pelvic pain, pain during sex, difficulty emptying their bowels, increased need to urinate, heavy or irregular periods, bloating and difficulty getting pregnant.
The cysts can sometimes be caused by an underlying condition, such as endometriosis. Surgical treatment may be needed to remove the cysts if they are large, causing symptoms or are potentially cancerous.
