The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Porsha Williams is speaking out as she recovers from her emergency hysterectomy.
“Thank you for all of the love and support today. My heart is so full,” Porsha, 45, wrote in a Friday, September 18, Instagram statement. “I just pray that by being brave enough to share my loss, my journey through surgery, and my new quality of life, my story will inspire women to take charge of their health and their bodies.”
The Bravo alum revealed earlier on Friday that she underwent a hysterectomy to remove her uterus after fibroids were found in her body.
“[As women], we can advocate for ourselves and be informed when we walk into these dr offices,” Porsha wrote on Friday, addressing her decision to have the procedure. “I just wish I had found this community sooner during the years when I felt so alone.”
She continued, “But, look at God and now, here we are, sharing our stories. I just know someone will be blessed. Thank you all again. After reading your stories and shedding tears and feeling togetherness, I’m going to get a little rest.”
Raising awareness for fibroids, Porsha stressed she understands other women with similar health struggles.
“Please know that you are seen, heard and never alone,” she concluded. “I love you all and thank you to my family and my partner for your support.”
Porsha, who previously welcomed daughter Pilar with ex Dennis McKinley in 2019, was initially worried how the hysterectomy would affect her future fertility.
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“I didn’t have a choice about the hysterectomy, but it saved my life. My quality of life has improved 100 percent since,” she wrote in a Glamour essay about her recovery. “I hadn’t realized the fibroids were behind my migraines, my low iron levels, or how stressed my body had been just from everyday life.”
Porsha continued, “Now … I’m even more present, more grateful, because when I look at [my daughter], I see a true miracle. I’ve always called her my lifesaver, since she gave me my purpose, and now that feels even more true. I really was chosen to be her mom.”
Porsha further revealed that doctors found 21 fibroids during the procedure, with the largest being “the size of a cantaloupe.”
“I woke up after the surgery and thought, ‘A part of me is gone.’ Fibroids aren’t something we usually talk about as women, and neither are hysterectomies,” she recalled. “There’s a stigma to it, as if you’re somehow less of a woman without your uterus.”