Lena Dunham has taken to Instagram to unveil her fresh ink, a neck tattoo with the word ‘SICK’ in rope-esque calligraphy.
[jwplayer B1lpeAaE]
“Sometimes the thing you’re most scared of being called is the best thing you can call yourself,” she captioned the snap. “Thank you @havenstudiobk for labeling me… and to my sisters in this dizzying but starry slog- i am lasso’d to you!”
The caption was likely a reference to her decade-long battle with endometriosis.
She wrote an essay in Vogue’s March 2018 issue explaining that she decided to undergo a total hysterectomy in an attempt to alleviate her pain and told fans that the surgery to remove her uterus was her “ninth surgical procedure.”
Dunham describes “years of complex surgeries measuring in the double digits” and that unsuccessful attempts to treat the painful disorder with “pelvic floor therapy, massage therapy, pain therapy, colour therapy [and] acupuncture” had lead to her choice.
She recently shared an Instagram photo of her stomach and disclosed that she’s now had 12 surgeries.
“Anyone who knows me (or knows *of* me) equates me with 2 things: nudity and pelvic pain. I’ll take it if it lets me spread the good word,” she wrote on a post to celebrate the end of National Endometriosis Month and help raise awareness for the condition.
“Now, I’m dating & connecting my scars from 12 surgeries as part of my endo sister @georgiewileman’s campaign #thisisendometriosis.”
She honoured the nine-month anniversary of her hysterectomy by revealing that she’d named her uterus Judy and gotten a tattoo on her rib cage that reads “RIP Judy.”
If you or someone close to you is affected by endometriosis, you can learn more about the condition at the Endometriosis Australia website, here.
