-Kacee Biggs-
Cousins!
Fibroid Fighters, a non-profit group that promotes fibroid awareness, held its second annual Fibroid Awareness Reception this past week on Thursday, July 28, 2022 at the Empire Steak House in New York City!
Yan Katsnelson, M.D., Founder and CEO of USA Fibroid Centers, delivered the keynote address, joined by special guests TT Torrez of Hot 97, and Eboni K. Williams of the Real Housewives of New York. The event was hosted by notable celebrities Cynthia Bailey, Kym Lee, and Miss Diddy, who serve as social media fibroid ambassadors to inspire women in efforts of learning more about fibroids and nonsurgical treatment.
The evening served as a forum to focus national attention on uterine fibroids by offering powerful messages of inspiration to women hoping to gain insight as well as knowledge about fibroid symptoms and its treatment.
“It is important that we change the conversation about uterine fibroids, because it affects 70 to 80 percent of women under the age of 55,” Katsnelson stated. “We need to focus on the cure in medicine—the advances minimally invasive medical procedures offered to women,” he added. The event highlighted the need to bring awareness, education, and treatment options.
Fibroids continue to be the leading cause of hysterectomies or surgical procedures to offer relief from symptoms which include heavy bleeding, anemia, pelvic pressure, urinary complications, and pain. These benign uterine tumors also can lead to infertility problems and tend to affect African American women more severely.
The Celebrity hosts also shared their stories and fights with fibroids. Cynthia Bailey got really candid about her story and felt it was important to share all aspects. The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star says that having the benign tumors growing in her womb left her in a “dark place” mentally and impacted so many aspects of her life that she felt like a “disaster.”
“It’s very hard to be in a good space mentally when you’re bleeding all the time and when you don’t have any energy, and you’re anemic and you don’t have the sex drive you used to have.”
“Mentally, I found that I was just in a dark place without really knowing I was in a dark place. When I look at photos of myself during that time, it was like the light was gone because I was bleeding to death in a lot of ways.”
Even though she had the procedure so many years ago, Bailey is still passionate about letting fibroid victims know that having a hysterectomy is not the only option.
“I use my celebrity to keep the information out there for women to understand that they do have options and they do not have to suffer in silence,” she says. “And they do not have to have their uterus removed to deal with their fibroid situation. That should be a last resort if it even needs to happen at all.”
Kym Lee’s story was emotional as well. Although she has been transforming celebrities with her makeup artistry for over 25 years and is now the CEO of her own business, ‘WinknPout Cosmetics’, she was fighting a silent battle herself. Kym’s story started with daily pain and discomfort. “I really felt like I was dying of headaches, fatigue, and weight gain. I felt like my body was out of my control,” says Kym.
She also began bleeding for at least three weeks per month. “We had thrown away probably 12 to 15 sets of bed sheets because I would bleed through sheet after sheet after sheet,” says Kim. “It was so embarrassing.
Conversations about fibroids are important for Kym to be a part of, so that women can be more informed about their symptoms and treatment options. “It is different hearing from someone who’s been through it. It’s important for the message to go out to as many people as possible so no one has to go through this ever again,” Kym says.
