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Helping through healing. Bindi Irwin<\/strong> <\/a>got candid about her decade-long battle with endometriosis, revealing that she underwent surgery for the uterine condition that caused her \u201cinsurmountable\u201d pain.<\/p>\n The Dancing With the Stars<\/em><\/a> season 21 winner, 24, opened up to fans about her harrowing ordeal via Instagram<\/a> on Tuesday, March 7, sharing a smiling selfie in a hospital bed alongside a lengthy caption about her endometriosis experience.<\/p>\n \u201cDear Friends, I battled for a long time wondering if I should share this journey with you in such a public space. It came down to the responsibility I feel to share my story for other women who need help,\u201d the Australia native wrote in the message. \u201cFor 10yrs I\u2019ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain & nausea. Trying to remain a positive person & hide the pain has been a very long road. These last 10yrs have included many tests, doctors visits, scans, etc. A doctor told me it was simply something you deal with as a woman & I gave up entirely, trying to function through the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately for Irwin, her friend Leslie Mosier<\/strong> \u2014 the owner of internet sensation Doug the Pug \u2014 helped the animal conservationist get on the \u201cpath\u201d to get the assistance she needed.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided to undergo surgery for endometriosis,\u201d Irwin shared. \u201cGoing in for surgery was scary but I knew I couldn\u2019t live like I was. Every part of my life was getting torn apart because of the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Endometriosis, per Mayo Clinic<\/a>, \u201cis an often painful disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus \u2014 the endometrium \u2014 grows outside your uterus.\u201d The medical site explains that it affects female reproductive organs \u2014 \u201cendometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis\u201d \u2014 and can affect fertility<\/a>. (Irwin and husband Chandler Powell<\/strong><\/a>, who have been married since March 2020, share daughter, Grace Warrior, who will turn 2 later this month.)<\/p>\n When undergoing the procedure, doctors found \u201c37 lesions, some very deep & difficult to remove, & a chocolate cyst [ovarian endometrioma],\u201d the Bindi the Jungle Girl<\/em> alum explained to fans. She added that her physician\u2019s \u201cfirst words to me when I was in recovery were, \u2018How did you live with this much pain?\u2019\u201d \u2014 and it was exactly what Irwin needed to hear.<\/p>\n \u201cValidation for years of pain is indescribable. My family & friends who have been on this journey with me for 10+ yrs \u2013 THANK YOU, for encouraging me to find answers when I thought I\u2019d never climb out,\u201d she penned. \u201cThank you to the doctors & nurses who believed my pain. I\u2019m on the road to recovery & the gratitude I feel is overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n Irwin concluded her announcement by empathizing with those going through similar health scares \u2014 and sharing an important reminder that not everything is what it seems on the outside.<\/p>\n \u201cTo those questioning the cancelled plans, unanswered messages & absence \u2013 I had been pouring every ounce of the energy I had left into our daughter & family,\u201d Irwin wrote. \u201cThings may look fine on the outside looking in through the window of someone\u2019s life, however, that is not always the case. Please be gentle & pause before asking me (or any woman) when we\u2019ll be having more children. After all that my body has gone through, I feel tremendously grateful that we have our gorgeous daughter<\/a>. She feels like our family\u2019s miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n