When US tennis star Danielle Collins played in the Australian Open women’s singles final, it was a remarkable comeback after endometriosis pain left her barely able to compete at this time last year.
The 28-year-old from Florida underwent emergency surgery for the condition in April 2021 after years of suffering agonising periods.
WATCH IN THE VIDEO ABOVE: Endometriosis: Why does it take so long to be diagnosed?
“I had so many doctors tell me that painful periods were normal. This progressively got worse and worse,” Danielle said in an interview with the Women’s Tennis Association.
“The agony that I experienced from my menstrual cycles and from the endometriosis is some of the worst pain I’ve ever had. It was scary at times.”
The common condition, which affects more than 11 per cent of Australian women, sees the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body, according to Endometriosis Australia,
Symptoms include pelvic pain that puts life on hold around or during a woman’s period. It can impact fertility.
While endometriosis most often affects the reproductive organs it is frequently found in the bowel and bladder and has been found in muscle, joints, the lungs and the brain.
There is no cure, but pain medicine, hormonal treatment and surgery can provide relief.
For many women, symptoms are so variable it can take more than six years to get a diagnosis. For many women these years are spent in a great deal of pain.
Tennis star Danielle recalled falling over on the court at the 2021 Australian Open and having a doctor rush out to help her due to the “contraction-like cramping” she experienced in her low pelvis and abdominal muscles.
As she traveled from tournament to tournament, Danielle said she tried to ignore the pain and take anti-inflammatories to alleviate it, but got to the point where they no longer worked.
‘I just couldn’t keep living my life like that’ – Danielle Collins
Her symptoms became more physically debilitating, including stabbing pain throughout her spine, leading to so much agony that it was impossible to play matches, she noted.
In the spring of 2021, the terrible back pain led Danielle to call her orthopedic doctor, who said her spine looked fine and couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
But when she mentioned her period pain, he referred her to a gynecologist. Danielle underwent emergency surgery four days later.
“I got to the point where I could no longer manage without it. Had I not had the surgery, I just couldn’t keep living my life like that,” she told the WTA.
The operation involved incisions through her abdominal wall in four different spots. Surgeons removed a “cyst the size of a tennis ball” from her ovary, which had displaced her uterus and left it pressing on a spinal nerve, Danielle told The Telegraph. That’s what was causing the back pain.
Doctors also removed tissue from her bowel and bladder.
The rehab process was long, but Danielle gradually started competing again last year, winning two WTA titles. She’s had a spectacular run at the Australian Open this month.
Danielle urged other women experiencing painful menstrual cycles to keep seeking answers.
“My biggest advice is that painful periods are not normal, and that if you’re being told that your pain is caused by something else, it never hurts to seek a second opinion,” she told The Telegraph.
“That’s something I wish I had done earlier. When I found out what it was, I was shocked — but also hopeful, because I was at rock bottom with the physical agony, and I didn’t know how I was going to keep playing tennis.”
With reporting by A. Pawlowski, NBC
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