Fresh out of surgery to treat multiple ailments, Bindi Irwin posted a video on Instagram on May 12 to let fans know she was doing OK.
“Hey guys, Bindi here. I just wanted to thank you so much for your incredible well wishes,” she said from her hospital bed.
“I just got out of surgery about an hour ago. I had my appendix removed. I also had 14 new endometriosis lesions that had to be removed, and they kindly stitched up my hernia, as well,” she added. In the caption of her post, Irwin wrote she “acquired” a “large hernia” four years ago from childbirth.
Irwin said she is “forever grateful” to the medical team who treated her at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, while also expressing her gratitude to her followers.
“Thank you guys for your kind words, for your support,” she said. “I’m sorry if I’m a little out of it in this video, but I just wanted you to know that I’m on the road to recovery — one step at a time, and I’m so lucky to have so much love in my life from my beautiful family. Sending love and light your way, and we’ll get through this.”
Irwin added more details in the video’s caption, noting she had to miss the Steve Irwin Gala on May 10 in Las Vegas, in honor of her late father.
“Surgery was a success,” she wrote. “My appendix was removed, along with another 14 lesions (after having 37 endometriosis lesions and a cyst removed two years ago).”
“Thankfully, I am on the road to recovery,” she continued.
Her brother, Robert Irwin, said his sister wanted to attend the gala, but she was advised to take care of her medical issues.
“She came to Las Vegas and was ready to come to the gala, put on a brave face in a lot of discomfort and a lot of pain and said, ‘Nope, I’m just going to tough it out, I’m going to go for it,’” he told People. “But the surgeon said, ‘No, your appendix is going. That thing’s gotta come out.’ Health has to come first.”
Bindi Irwin revealed in March 2023 that she had been diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful condition that happens when tissue similar to what lines the uterus grows outside of it. Since that time, she has been vocal about her experiences, noting how she endured nausea, irritable bowel syndrome, severe stabbing pain, cramping and fatigue, even as test results appeared normal.
“It was getting more and more concerning as to what the real problem was and if we would ever find the cause,” she told TODAY.com via email in 2023, shortly after going public with her diagnosis. “Doctors would chalk it up to hormones and being a young woman, and I was often told that it was just the stress of life, and I should work on my mental health.”
“This was incredibly disheartening and actually caused me a lot of anxiety and depression as I was constantly in pain with no answers for what was wrong with me,” she continued. “It was very easy to believe doctors, and I actually gave up searching for answers.”
In May 2023, she said in an Instagram video that her symptoms started when she was young.
“I was getting extreme fatigue, nausea, pain. Many people think with endometriosis, you only get symptoms during your period, that time of the month,” she said. “I had pain every single day of my life, and it really started when I was 14 years old. Suddenly no matter where we went or what we were doing, I would just be falling asleep wherever we were.”
