Actress and talk show host Lilly Singh was hospitalized this week with ovarian cysts. She posted a shot of herself from her ER bed with a caption letting her fans know she had cysts on both her ovaries. She injected her trademark wit into her comments, chastising her ovaries for giving her grief in between periods, but ended with the very real note that she was in pain and exhausted from the ordeal. Ovarian cysts are taxing. The ER is taxing. And extended time in those ER beds are akin to torture so just looking at the IG of poor Lilly in that hospital bed made my whole body ache. I hope she’s feeling better. I also hope some people see this as a wake up call.
Lilly Singh has landed in the emergency room.
On Wednesday, the 33-year-old comedian posted a clip from her hospital bed to Instagram, showing her reclining while wearing a mask and rolling her eyes. The song “Smokin Out the Window” by Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars played in the background.
She wrote over the video, “Learning there are cysts on my ovaries.”
Singh went into further detail in her caption, where she explained, “Spent the last day in the ER because my ovaries have the AUDACITY to be wilding out. Both of them have cysts.”
She continued, “And I’m just out here like REALLY B?! Let me understand this. You’re going to make me suffer once a month and then IN ADDITION, stab me in between periods?! LOLOLOLOL. WOW. THE ENTITLEMENT… the NERVE. IM WEAKKKK….”
The Little Late with Lilly Singh host 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 💅🏽😩”
Singh’s friends and fans sent their love and well-wishes in the comments section, with Howie Mandel writing, “I’m here if you need anything.”
Ovarian cysts are not uncommon; the Mayo Clinic states that “many women have ovarian cysts at some time,” and most “present little or no discomfort and are harmless.”
However, Mayo Clinic notes that large or ruptured cysts “can cause serious symptoms,” including pelvic pain, fullness or heaviness in the abdomen and bloating.
As the article said, ovarian cysts are quite common, but they shouldn’t be ignored. Please don’t let anyone tell you that. Even if it turns out to be nothing, talk to your doctor about any history you have with cysts or if you suspect them. Most of the time, they are not an issue. I don’t have reoccurring cysts, but I did have one burst on me. It felt like I’d been shot. My daughter just had the same experience (and in the same instance: running the mile in PE). I don’t know if it was a burst cyst that put Lilly in the hospital or if having both ovaries weighted down with them did it but either way, it was probably good she went because cysts on both ovaries sounds like something that needs attention. And so painful – I can only imagine.
In light of the efforts to control women’s reproductive health, it’s more important than ever to keep these issues on the table. My generation was raised to accept the excruciating discomfort from periods because ‘that’s just what women went through.’ I was surprised to find out my vomiting from menstrual pain was not universal. So I applaud Lilly for putting this up, especially because I’m sure she felt like crap when she did it. We need to remind women they stand to lose everything if they continue to support governments that are taking away their rights bit by bit. And don’t let anyone other than your doctor tell you that your pain is “nothing.”
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram
I have PCOS and have had ovarian cysts since I was 14. Spent plenty of time in the ER with a burst cyst over the years. Even got opened up once because the doc insisted it was appendicitis. I feel for her.
I had to have emergency surgery to remove a cyst because it had grown so large it was twisting my ovary. Then I went back to the ob gyn to tell her it had come back and she didn’t believe me until she did an ultrasound and that proved me right. Mine are hormone based so after that I had to use the BC pill for years to control them (medicine the GOP now wants to take away from me.)
My best friend had a similar experience. One of the cysts had wrapped around the ovary and was cutting off blood flow. So, she had to have emergency surgery to have that ovary removed, and also needed several surgeries for cysts on the other ovary.
Please don’t ever ignore pelvic or ovarian pain. Make yourselves aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer. Doctors will often tell you the symptoms are just part of being a woman or getting older. That’s why it’s such a deadly cancer – it’s often not found until it’s stage III or IV. Demand an ultrasound if you find your issues being downplayed.
I had a large borderline malignant tumor removed from my ovary. Never had a painful period in my life or any reproductive issues, so the whole ordeal was a total shock.
A ruptured cyst at age 18 was how I got diagnosed with PCOS. It’s since put me back in the ER a couple more times. Not fun.
I have PCOS and I have been shot.
The pain from the a large cyst rupturing was by far more excruciating.
I’m in my 40s and one the first one burst at 17, my male doctor told me I was a woman now and had to get used to periods. I still have so much anger about that and suffered so much for many years because it was “just my period”. This was pre-internet days, your doctor was the only source of medical information. And of course no one talked about such things.
I hope Lilly is recovering well. I am glad she is talking about this in public.
First ruptured ovarian cyst was at 16. I couldn’t stand up because the pain was so bad. My dad carried me into the ER. Sorry to say this but the ER nurses were vicious. They believed I was pregnant and miscarrying and didn’t want to tell my parents. They separated me from my parents and interrogated me for hours about my “pregnancy.” Only when the pregnancy test that they ran came back negative did they start to consider it might be something else. At this point, my mom had wandered back and found me sobbing and I told her what was going on. She asked them whether it might be a cyst and they discounted her. But she was right. My dad told his insurance not to cover the pregnancy test because it shouldn’t have been done.
I had two ovarian cysts burst while I was in the army, once when I stood up, once doing sit-ups. The pain was so intense I couldn’t move. I just had benign hormonal cysts. I got pregnant not long after my last one and I haven’t had them since.
I hope Lilly feels better soon.
At 27 (I’m now 69) I was diagnosed with bi-lateral dermoid cysts (they’re made of tissue and don’t burst, they just continue to grow). One ovary gone. At 31 they grew back. One fallopian tube and half the other ovary gone. At 42 they grew back, along with fibroids in my uterus. Everything gone. I felt like I was at the mercy of my reproductive organs for over 20 years. She has all my sympathy, it was horrible.