Lena Dunham Is ‘Disease-Free’ But Has Mixed Feelings About It

Lena Dunham has never been one to hide her battle with endometriosis, and after struggling with the disease for years, the “Girls” actress is now free of it — but she isn’t exactly ecstatic about it. After five surgeries and various non-surgical approaches, Dunham is now disease-free but has mixed feelings about it.

In this week’s edition of her Lenny Letter newsletter, the actress wrote, “My [final] surgery went off without a hitch. When I emerged, cotton-mouthed, [Dr. Randy Harris] told me something I hadn’t expected to hear, maybe ever: there was no endometriosis left. Between my surgeries and hormonal intervention, I was disease-free.”

While the disease can still return, Dunham said she is healthy for now. However, there is something left for her to deal with. “All that will remain is my long-term relationship with pain, and it’s time to get real about that,” she wrote.

Although many would expect Dunham to be happy about being free from endometriosis, the situation is a bittersweet one for the actress who revealed the chronic physical pain became her “ultimate excuse.”

Dunham wrote, “My pain — physical — distracted from my deeper pain — emotional, spiritual — and became the ultimate excuse. I had two modes: working and hurting. I was convinced there was nobility in it. There was certainly routine.”

The actress admits that she’s “embarrassed to say that the excitement is mixed with loss,” but she wants to use the experience as a way to help others. “If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that complacency has no business here,” she wrote. “My job is to educated people, to try to change the pathetic lack of resources for endometriosis.”

In March, Dunham spoke out against plans to defund Planned Parenthood, saying the birth control pill helped with her disease. “I’ve been on the birth control pill on and off for almost fifteen years. It’s the only thing that can control my endometriosis pain,” she said.