Porsha Williams thought the changes happening in her body might simply be part of getting older. Instead, a visit to her fertility doctor uncovered a serious health problem that moved so quickly she woke up from surgery without the possibility of carrying another child.
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The 45-year-old “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star revealed Friday that uterine fibroids led to an emergency partial hysterectomy after doctors discovered 21 growths in her uterus, including one she described as being the size of a cantaloupe.Williams shared the diagnosis during a September 18 appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King. The discovery was especially difficult because Williams, who shares 7-year-old daughter Pilar Jhena, had been considering having another baby.
“I’ve always fantasized about having a little boy, or maybe a little sister for her,” Williams told King.
Ironically, Williams wasn’t initially at the doctor’s office because she suspected something was seriously wrong.
She had accompanied a friend to discuss freezing her eggs and decided to get checked while they were there because the appointment was with Williams’ fertility doctor. During the examination, however, the mood changed.
“She started looking into doing the exam, and she went silent,” Williams recalled. “And I looked at the screen, and all I could see was black, and then I started seeing some circular lines. And I was like, ‘Not again. Not again.’ ”
Williams had good reason to recognize what she was seeing. Fibroids had already played a devastating role in her reproductive history.
After being referred to a fertility specialist, Williams said another examination revealed the severity of what was happening.
“When she did the vaginal check, she was in shock because everything had pretty much flattened,” Williams said.
An MRI followed within hours. Williams said doctors discovered 21 fibroids, with the largest reaching roughly the size of a cantaloupe. Surgery was scheduled for approximately two weeks later.
“It all happened so fast,” Williams said. “It really didn’t hit me, hit me until I woke up in the hospital bed.”
Williams had been experiencing warning signs before the diagnosis. She described prolonged menstrual bleeding, severe fatigue, migraines, and mood changes. Her menstrual cycle had stretched to approximately six weeks.
At 45, however, she believed perimenopause could explain what was happening.
The possibility that fibroids had returned apparently wasn’t at the front of her mind, despite her long history with the condition.
Williams said she was first diagnosed with fibroids in her late 20s while dealing with fertility problems. During an earlier pregnancy, doctors were monitoring a fibroid they initially believed could degenerate as the pregnancy continued. Williams said that didn’t happen.
“It ended up outgrowing the first baby at 4 months, so I had a miscarriage,” she said.
Williams later underwent a myomectomy, which removes fibroids while preserving the uterus, as well as uterine fibroid embolization. She eventually became pregnant with Pilar, who was born in March 2019.
Years later, after divorce and while raising her daughter with a support system around her, Williams said she was once again thinking about growing her family.
Then came the May diagnosis.
Her partial hysterectomy meant Williams could no longer carry another pregnancy herself.
Williams’ experience also puts a spotlight on a condition that can range from symptom-free to life-altering.
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in or around the uterus. They can be tiny enough to escape detection or grow large enough to distort the uterus and expand the abdomen. A woman can have a single fibroid or many at the same time.
Many women never experience symptoms. When symptoms do develop, however, heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding is one of the major warning signs. Fibroids can also cause painful periods, pelvic pressure or pain, lower back or abdominal pain, frequent urination, constipation, and pain during sex.
Heavy bleeding can become more than an inconvenience. Continued blood loss can cause anemia, leaving a woman tired and weak. In severe cases, blood loss can become significant enough that a transfusion is required.
Large fibroids can also press against surrounding organs. Depending on their location and size, that pressure can affect the bladder or bowel and contribute to urinary or gastrointestinal problems.
For women hoping to become pregnant, the potential complications can become even more serious.
Many women with fibroids can become pregnant and have healthy pregnancies. However, certain fibroids, particularly those that protrude into the uterine cavity, can contribute to infertility or pregnancy loss.
Fibroids have also been associated with pregnancy complications including placental abruption, fetal growth restriction, and premature delivery.
Williams’ own history illustrates how deeply those complications can affect a family. Years before the hysterectomy, she says a growing fibroid contributed to the loss of her pregnancy at four months.
Part of the challenge is that fibroid symptoms can overlap with other gynecological issues.
Heavy periods, pelvic discomfort, fatigue, and changes in bleeding patterns can have multiple possible causes. Williams said she interpreted her own symptoms through the lens of her age and suspected perimenopause.
Her message now is that women shouldn’t try to make that call on their own.
“We have to stop diagnosing ourselves,” Williams said. “There’s so many different things when it comes to a woman that you need to get checked. We need to know how to advocate for ourselves.”
Medical guidance supports getting evaluated when pelvic pain persists, periods become unusually heavy or painful, bleeding occurs between periods, urination becomes difficult, or unexplained tiredness and weakness continue. Sudden sharp pelvic pain or severe vaginal bleeding can require immediate medical attention.
Treatment depends on factors including symptoms, the number, size, and location of fibroids, age, and whether a patient wants to preserve fertility. Options can range from monitoring and medication to uterine artery embolization, radiofrequency ablation and myomectomy. A hysterectomy, which removes the uterus, is the permanent surgical treatment because fibroids cannot return in a uterus that has been removed.
For Williams, speaking publicly about fibroids wasn’t new. Talking about losing her uterus was different.
“I don’t know, there’s some stigma talking about having a hysterectomy,” she said. “I’ve always spoken about fibroids, but speaking about the hysterectomy is new.”
Now she is questioning whether hearing another woman’s experience sooner might have changed how quickly she recognized her own symptoms.
“If I would have seen somebody like me sitting here with you talking about fibroids, it would have clicked something for me to even ask for it,” Williams said. “I had to ask my doctor to check for fibroids after something was going on that was wrong.”
Her story ultimately carries a warning beyond her own diagnosis: familiar symptoms aren’t always harmless, and having dealt with fibroids once doesn’t necessarily mean the issue can never return.
