“I have a cyst on my ovary the size of an apple,” Hailey Bieber revealed on Monday (Nov. 28) via her Instagram Story. Hailey, 26, shares a photo of herself in a pair of gray sweats, with the sweatshirt pulled up to show the bulge in her stomach (“not a baby,” she labeled the growth, aware of how some might start speculating that she and Justin Bieber were expecting.) “I don’t have endometriosis or PCOS [Polycystic Ovary Syndrome] but I have gotten an ovarian cyst a few times, and it’s never fun,” added Hailey.
“It’s painful and achey(sic) and makes me feel nauseous and bloated and crampy and emotional,” she added before ending her message with a bit of solidarity and hope. “Anyways…I’m sure a lot of you can overly relate and understand. We got this.”
Ovarian cysts are “sacs, usually filled with fluid, in an ovary or on its surface,” according to the Mayo Clinic’s listing for the condition. “One ovary is located on each side of the uterus. Each ovary is about the size and shape of an almond. Ovarian cysts are common. Most of the time, you have little or no discomfort, and the cysts are harmless. Most cysts go away without treatment within a few months. But sometimes ovarian cysts can become twisted or burst open (rupture). This can cause serious symptoms.” Some of the symptoms listed for cysts include pelvic pain, fullness, and bloating.
Earlier in the year, Hailey shared that she was hospitalized after having “stroke-like symptoms.” In a March post shared to her Instagram Story, Hailey wrote, “On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke-like symptoms and was taken to the hospital. They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own, and I recovered completely within a few hours.”
A month after this health scare, Hailey shared that her doctors that recent events contributed to the stroke: she was taking birth control without consulting a doctor and recently came down with COVID. She also revealed that a follow-up appointment diagnosed her with PFO (patent foramen ovale), or a hole between the left and right upper chambers in her heart. She had a hole measuring between 12 and 13 millimeters.
“The biggest thing I feel is I just feel really relieved that we were able to figure everything out, that we were able to get it closed, that I will be able to move on from this really scary situation and just live my life,” she said in the YouTube update.