BINDI IRWIN MY 10-YEAR HEALTH BATTLE

WITH AFTER YEARS OF DEBILITATING PAIN, THE ANIMAL PLANET STAR WAS DIAGNOSED ENDOMETRIOSIS. NOW SHE'S OPENING UP ABOUT HER DARKEST DAYS AND HER JOURNEY BACK TO HEALTH

- EMILY STROHM

While the festivities were low-key, her birthday was still one of the best she’s had in years—because it was pain-free. “This one feels different because I feel different,” says the Animal Planet star. In the past, “I was always happy, but being in so much pain all the time, you put on a brave face, because I didn’t want everyone to know I felt so bad. This is the first time since I was a kid that I genuinely wanted to celebrate. It was just our little family, which is all I wanted. To dwell on how happy I am to finally feel good and actually mean it when I say it.”

For more than a decade, even as she grew up in front of a global TV audience, got married and became a mom, the wildlife conservationist and daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin kept her health struggle private. She suffered from excruciating fatigue, pain and nausea as she saw doctors and underwent countless tests and scans in search of answers. Initially medical professionals brushed off her health concerns, even as her symptoms grew worse. With little hope for help, Irwin felt isolated and defeated until a close friend, who had endometriosis, urged her to undergo laparoscopy (a minimally invasive method for diagnosing and treating intra-abdominal diseases). The procedure confirmed she had endometriosis—a condition in which uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus, causing cramping and chronic pain. It's common, affecting as many as one in 10 women, but can be debilitating and difficult to diagnose without surgery. During the laparoscopy in March, the surgeon removed 37 lesions in her abdomen and a cyst on her ovary.