Brandi Rhodes Diagnosed With Stage 4 Endometriosis After 3 Years Of 'Internal Pain': ‘Don’t Be Dismissed’
Former WWE professional wrestler Brandi Rhodes admitted she was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis after being medically dismissed for nearly three years.
The 40-year-old sat with 'Today,' expressing the "internal pain" she experienced after becoming pregnant with her daughter Liberty. After communicating this to her doctor, she was told this was simply something some women experience that will eventually go away.
"It felt like something inside, whether it was an ovary or my uterus, just felt really irritated and aggravated," Rhodes told 'Today'.
When the pain failed to subside, her doctor suggested pelvic floor therapy. Despite the medical professional's best suggestion, over the next three years the former professional wrestler only received minimal relief.
"One day I'd wake up in the morning and I felt normal and fine and [could see] my abs...and then another day I would wake up and I would look three months pregnant," Rhodes, 40, explained, revealing the battle she faced with irregular menstrual cycles, heavy periods, and severe bleeding.
"Then I found myself back at the doctor again," Rhodes recollected. "That doctor really waved it off. She didn't really show concern. She really didn't have a lot of questions."
During this time, Rhodes was in the process of building NakedMind, her yoga and pilates studio, and claims she felt "defeated" under the pressure of continuing her responsibilities while simply feeling unwell internally.
"That will make you not really want to go out there and conquer the world and help people with their fitness because you're feeling bad yourself." When fellow wrestler Maryse Mizanin shared in February that she has 11 precancerous tumors in her ovaries, it prompted her to dive back into her healing journey.
Following an appointment for an ultrasound, the doctor said it "felt like endometriosis" just after a basic pelvic exam. After being sent to a nutritionist and a GI doctor who suggested a colonoscopy due to possible IBS, finding her solution through a standard pelvic exam left her feeling both angry and relieved, per the news outlet.
"It's been three years. What took so long?" she stated.
Rhodes is currently on her journey to healing after undergoing surgery to remove the endometrial tissue, which revealed she was at a stage 4 for the condition. "I'm so mad. I'm so worked up because I knew something was wrong. And the way that I felt so dismissed in so many different ways...This is so wrong."
Rhodes told her story via a heartfelt post on instagram, reminding female readers to advocate for themselves and their bodies.
"It is far too common in the medical world to be dismissed when it comes to Women's health issues," she wrote. "Don't be dismissed."
