Model/TV personality Cynthia Bailey has been transparent about her battle with fibroids and decided to reveal even more in honor of Women’s History Month.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum offers reassurance to women suffering from fibroids and informs them of the other treatment options outside of having a hysterectomy. It’s been over a decade since Bailey received treatment for her fibroids.
But she recalls the “dark place” she was in because of the benign tumors.
“It’s very hard to be in a good space mentally when you’re bleeding all the time and when you don’t have any energy, and you’re anemic, and you don’t have the sex drive you used to have,” Bailey told People.
“Mentally, I found that I was just in a dark place without really knowing I was in a dark place.”
“When I look at photos of myself during that time, it was like the light was gone because I was bleeding to death in a lot of ways.”
Bailey first learned of her fibroids while pregnant with her daughter Noelle, USA Fibroid Centers shared. While she noticed her heavy menstrual cycles, Bailey had no idea it would lead to future health complications.
Bailey’s fibroids grew during her marriage to Peter Thomas and filming RHOA, and her symptoms intensified. The supermodel became anemic and had issues working. Her periods became increasingly painful and left her bedridden at times.
“I felt like my life revolved around my period,” Bailey revealed.
“There were so many turning points and embarrassing moments that I knew I had to get my fibroids under control.”
As part of her ambassadorship with the USA Fibroids Centers, Bailey is educating women on non-invasive forms of fibroid treatment, including uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), which she had done 14 years ago.
“[The] procedure is done through [a] catheter.” Dr. Yan Katsnelson, the founder of USA Fibroid Centers, said. “They enter in the wrist or in the groin, and the catheter goes around, [into] the blood vessels towards the origin of the arteries that feed the fibroids.”
With fibroids affecting 80% of Black women and 70% of white women by age 50, Bailey knows how important it is to spread awareness on the noncancerous growths.