Tara Lipinski has shared an update amid her ongoing struggle with endometriosis, and revealed that she’s undergone a yet another surgery for the disorder.
“I had my 3rd endo surgery,” the gold-medal winning Olympian, 42, shared in her Instagram stories alongside a photo of herself in a hospital bed.
As she explained, the hospital visit was the result of “a painful endometrioma that formed in my ovary. [My doctor] removed that and cleaned up all my remaining endo. (Which hopefully won’t be coming back as I hopefully [won’t] be doing any more fertility treatments.)”
According to the Mayo Clinic, endometriosis causes “tissue that is similar to the inner lining of the uterus [to] grow outside the uterus. It often affects the ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining the pelvis.”
Tara Lipinski/Instagram
This can cause the creation of endometriomas, which the Mayo Clinic says are also known as “‘chocolate cysts’ [which] are cysts filled with menstrual blood.”
Lipinski’s previous surgical procedures included having that «endo» tissue removed, as well as surgery to repair a “septate uterus,” which the Mayo Clinic explains can happen when a membrane separates the uterus and may put you at “an increased risk for endometriosis.”
During this hospital stay, Lipinski revealed that in addition to having the new endo removed, “I also had my tubes taken out.”
“I have embryos on ice so if I ever for some reason want to try to become pregnant again, I wouldn’t need my tubes — straight to the uterus. But ALL of my drs said they would remove my tubes as it’s a huge risk reduction for ovarian cancer. So glad to have them out!” she explained.
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After a five-year struggle with infertility and unsuccessful IVF treatments, Lipinski and her husband Todd Kapostasy welcomed daughter Georgie, now 9 months, via surrogate in October.
But for right now, Lipinski says she’s focusing on healing, sharing a photo of the abdominal binder she wears as she recovers from surgery.
Tara Lipinski/Instagram
“I take off here and there to get [to] take some deep breaths though lol,” she captioned the photo of the white medical binder that was wrapped around her midsection.
On her third day post-surgery, she joked about her voluminous hair, “It’s a look, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I brushed it.”
“I’m lucky I brushed my teeth and put on some moisturizer today. I’m feeling better than yesterday.”
“I feel like that turning point happened yesterday and yeah, still just resting in bed but walking every hour. Walking up and down stairs.”
Overall, Lipinski said she’s recovering well, and is “hopeful by this weekend I should be feeling even better.”
