In recent times people speaking openly about their health issues has become more common, more accepting. I’m glad more women are speaking up about their experiences with endometriosis. Today I share the stories of many such sportswomen who have been vocal about what they have been through with this life changing condition.
Just a quick disclaimer here: I wouldn’t want anyone believing that just because there are people out there who pushed themselves through the pain and won Olympic golds or achieved high standards in the sport they are part of that you too must push through that pain.
Instead, I hope that these stories inspire anyone out there with endometriosis to get the answers and the treatments they need.
If you prefer to watch a video version of this blog post, then you can right here – if not, then scroll on and enjoy the read!
1. Danielle Collins – American professional tennis player
Suffering since 2016, it was in April 2021, Danielle had to take a break from competing in the WTA tour when the agony of endometriosis got too much and she underwent surgery for it. As she stepped away, she was unsure of when she would be back to play the sport.
World number 40 at the time, Danielle was suffering having collapsed on the tennis court on a couple of occasions.
During her surgery
“They removed a cyst the size of a tennis ball from [her] ovary, as well as material from [her] bowel and bladder.”
providing her relief from her struggles. (Ref: The Telegraph)
The next challenging phase was the rehabilitation.
Having had her abdominal muscles cut through, getting back on court wasn’t going to be easy. This is where the right type of rehab and having a team of people helping you plays a huge role in how well that happens.
Interestingly, after returning to tennis, Collins’ game took off to another level in 2021. After making it to the semifinal in Budapest, she won back to back WTA titles in Palermo and San Jose, adding to just one previous WTA title in her career! And now what’s trumped things further is Collins’ was the runner-up of the Australian Open in 2022. How’s that for a recovery?!
Frankly, I was really surprised that she was back on court in two months, but as I always say, we all have different bodies and are dealing with different comorbidities, also we all live different lifestyles too.
As an athlete Daniellle had the possible benefit of having an otherwise strong body and being on the right diet – so I hope none of you reading here ever feel disheartened if you’re not back on your feet as quickly as Danielle was.
Personally, I wasn’t. It took me a year to recover so please work at your own pace.
If you would like to know more about my surgery, how much it cost, how I prepared for it and recovered then do check out these links:
- How much does endometriosis excision surgery cost?
- How to prepare for endometriosis excision surgery?
- What to expect after endometriosis excision surgery?
- 6 months on from surgery – my experience
- 1 year on from surgery. Was it worth it?
2. Emily Seebohm – Australian Olympic Swimmer
An Australian swimmer, Emily Seebohm is an Olympics gold medallist but what makes her story great is it was only just before that edition of the games she realised she was suffering from endometriosis.
It was the 2016 games and things weren’t quite looking right for Seebohm, who in her own words realised that the
“cramps, back pain, stomach ache, irregular menstrual cycles, cravings and fatigue weren’t just the result of my gruelling training regime.”
(Ref.: The Gaurdian)
Like many others who suffer from endometriosis, Seebohm was suggested this possibility a few years after she first noticed these symptoms by her gynaecologist but her issue was she couldn’t undergo a surgery during an Olympics year – it could well be the end of her medal-winning dream.
The gruelling training made it more difficult for her, also causing question-marks over whether her symptoms were a result of the illness or a natural side-effect of the training.
Seebohm underwent a long struggle with her symptoms for a few months as a result of that and yet, went on to win the silver medal in the 4×100 m medley relay in 2016 (having won a gold in 2008).
It was before the 2008 Beijing games when she realised something wasn’t right when she suffered irregular cycles and it soon became a mental battle for Seebohm. Taking pain-killers during a competition was difficult and while the mirena helped for a while, things took an ugly turn when a bout of swine flu her cycles returned to their previously irregular times.
Seebohm finally had her surgery after the Olympics, which have resulted in better cycles for the Aussie while more vitally her pain and cramping have also reduced drastically.
Later she became the ambassador for Endometriosis Australia, a not for profit organisation for this cause.
3. Kirstie James – Cyclist
A former rower, Kirstie James found her calling in cycling and later went on to win a silver medal for New Zealand team pursuit team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
That was two years after doctors discovered James had endometriosis. And like to most women, the diagnosis came as a huge relief to James too because before that she reckoned she was going crazy.
Relevant read:
It was while she was home one day that James felt a sharp pain on her right side and it sent enough panic around for her to be immediately taken to a physiotherapist.
Even as James contemplated if she had torn her hip flexor muscle, the feeling went away in a jiffy.
She said:
“I went from 100 percent pain to suddenly gone. I thought I was delusional; that I needed to see a psychologist because I’d gone crazy. I definitely thought I was crazy.”
(Ref.: Newsroom.co.nz)
It wasn’t the first time James had suffered an intense pain each month but being an athlete she opted to bite the bullet and endure it silently rather than get it treated.
That, unfortunately, took a heavy toll on her physical and mental health and it was becoming more and more difficult for her coach to pick her up in the team.
What added to her woes was when James decided she couldn’t take it any more and did speak to her doctors, not too many believed her.
“It looks fine”, became a common refrain, like has been the case for many women who suffer from this debilitating illness.
It took a surgery to reveal she had endometriosis, and the laparoscopy helped the surgeon to scrape out all of the visible illness.
Her pain was gone but more vitally she now thinks she isn’t as insane as she had thought she was when she suffered from the extreme fluctuations of her symptoms.
Relevant read:
4. Elinor Barker – Cyclist
Welsh cyclist Elinor Barker is a multiple Olympics medal winner, which includes a gold at Rio 2016 and silver at the 2020 Tokyo games. But her list of achievements does not stop at that, with Barker having also won top honours at five of the World Championships and a plethora of other coloured-medals there and at the European Championships.
It could all have been so much worse though with Barker admitting she was on the verge of quitting sport because of endometriosis.
Like others, Barker suffered the terrible symptoms associated with this illness, including times when the pain pulled her down so badly she wouldn’t want to stand up.
Barker’s symptoms seemed to mirror Kristie James’ with the Welsh athlete taking a tumble one day because of the pain but once on the floor, the symptoms disappeared.
What followed was something Barker wasn’t quite prepared for as a professional athlete.
Speaking to the BBC, she revealed:
“Then it just started happening more and more often, closer together until actually I felt like that for hours at a time and wouldn’t be able to stand up.”
What’s interesting – but not surprising – is Barker found herself at the receiving end of this illness about 18 months before the 2016 Olympics and it wasn’t till 2018 she was diagnosed with endometriosis.
Battling through that pain, Barker also went on to win the gold medal in Rio in 2016, which, given her condition, was an achievement unparalleled.
Once diagnosed, Barker followed Emily Seebohm’s tryst with endometriosis and opted to undergo surgery which caused her to miss just five days of training. She is relatively pain-free now and admits she is glad to have made that call.
Barker does understand it could all return one day though. She says:
“I know it’s not the kind of thing that goes away. So I’m not cured.”
“It’ll gradually come back over the next few years and I’ll probably have to have surgery every three to four years if I want to live a healthy life and be training and racing.”
5. Monique Murphy – Paralympic Swimmer
A Paralympic swimmer for Australia, Monique Murphy won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics games
All the athletes in this list went through their own share of suffering because of endometriosis but in Monique Murphy there’s one who went through a lot more than just that.
Because long before she struggled with this invisible illness, Murphy endured a living nightmare when she fell off the balcony of the fifth floor of her university building. It took her a week of being in coma to come back from near death, suffering a jaw break and a right foot amputation.
To make matters worse, Murphy has no memory of what had happened in the lead-up to the fall leading to speculations it was an attempted suicide. Meetings with a few counsellors made her realise that’s not what happened and the probable cause was pinned on the spiking of her drinks at a university party.
The mental shift from having lost a limb was difficult but not as much as it might have been for some others because of the way she was raised.
Some time after this first tragedy, Murphy was diagnosed with endometriosis, but even that came after changing a whopping 14 doctors. A surgery was needed but when the problems did not go away, she had to undergo a second one when she was diagnosed with adenomyosis.
Unsurprisingly, Murphy has had her self-doubts before she got her endometriosis diagnosis.
What if it was all in her mind?
What if everyone went through the same and she just wasn’t strong enough?
What if she was just not cut out to become a top-level athlete?
According to Murphy, the trauma of her fall and loss of a limb might have triggered the growth of endometriosis, but it took her doctors five years to get to that.
And like most others, it was a feeling of relief.
Relevant read:
6. Leah Williamson – Footballer
In 2021, While recovering from a hamstring injury, captain of the England’s women’s football team, Leah Williams was diagnosed with endometriosis.
She feared missing Euro 2022 because of a concussion she suffered just before the tournament which led to a major endometriosis flare up. As shared with WomensHealthMag.com, Leah said that she found herself on the bathroom floor, unable to move:
“‘Before the Euros I had a concussion, which they say can really impact your next period, and it was bad – like, really bad. You know when you’re on the bathroom floor and literally like: “I can’t move.” When it’s too late to take the tablets because I’m, like, in it now.’
‘I was like, “it cannot happen”. Like, I actually won’t be able to play. [Having an endometriosis flare up] is a big fear when you get to a tournament not injured…I don’t change too much around [my cycle] now. Unless I’m on the floor. And then I’m like: “I won’t make it today”.”
She goes on to say – and I’m sure many of us will agree to this…
“I’m pretty sure if men had periods we would have figured out a way to stop them by now without doing any damage.'”
Not only did Leah eventually play and lead England in the Euros, but they won the championship too.
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So endometriosis isn’t easy, even for the fittest of athletes. It drains you of all that you have and then some more, which is why it’s so important to advocate for yourself and really get to understand why you’re suffering so much.
As usual if you have any questions then please feel free to drop them in the comments section below – I’ll be happy to share all that I know.
I do also have a page where I have linked all my endometriosis relevant blog posts for easier access. So do check that out here.
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I have a podcast too. You can check them out here along with their transcripts or if you don’t wanna read them then they’re available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts too.
