Tennis Icon Venus Williams Opens Up About Health Struggles
Tennis icon Venus Williams opened up about her struggles with a serious medical issue that caused significant pain, even leading her to lie on the floor of a locker room prior to an important match at Wimbledon in 2016. In a recent interview on NBC’s Today show with host Zinhle Essamuah, Williams discussed her battle with fibroids, non-cancerous growths in the uterus that can result in painful and debilitating symptoms.
Williams, now 45, had dismissed her symptoms as possibly related to her existing Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that she has had since at least 2011. She described her experiences of extreme pain, which sometimes incapacitated her to the point of vomiting and missing training sessions.
Advocating for Women’s Health
Essamuah, who also deals with fibroids and is passionate about shedding light on this often-ignored condition, emphasized the need for women to voice their health concerns.
“Women and their pain are often overlooked,”
she told PEOPLE.
“It’s crucial that we elevate these narratives to bring awareness.”
Williams revealed that before her US Open doubles triumph alongside her sister Serena in 2016, she was lying helpless on the locker room floor, hoping her pain would subside. Thankfully, thanks to Serena’s intervention in getting medical help, she was able to recover and compete.
Despite initially believing her issues stemmed from her autoimmune condition, Williams’s symptoms were dismissed by medical professionals, with one doctor attributing her pain to aging. She even faced the emotional turmoil of a recommendation for a hysterectomy, a decision that frightened her due to her desire for family planning in the future.
Finding the Right Care
After many struggles, she found Dr. Tara Shirazian at NYU Langone Health’s Center for Fibroid Care, who performed a myomectomy last year to remove the fibroids while preserving her uterus.
Dr. Shirazian echoes the sentiment that women must be heard by medical professionals.
“Women understand their bodies,”
she said, urging doctors to listen closely to their patients. In honor of Fibroid Awareness Month this July, both Williams and Essamuah want to inspire women to advocate for their own health. Essamuah advised,
“It’s okay to be assertive about your health. Ultimately, you are the one living with your body. Don’t hesitate to push for answers.”
Raising Awareness
With fibroids affecting up to 80% of women at some point in their lives, the pair hopes to increase awareness about the alternatives to hysterectomy. Williams hinted at a potential return to tennis, saying,
“I’m not playing badly so you never know… I’ve been focusing on recovery and enjoying life without fibroids.”
This revelation sheds light not just on Williams’ health journey but underscores a broader issue regarding women’s health care, urging medical professionals to consider all options available before resorting to major surgeries.
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