“I learned that no one is going to fight for my health more than myself,” Corinne Foxx, 28, said after many doctors rejected her endometriosis symptoms.
Corinne Foxx, Jamie Foxx’s oldest daughter, speaks out about how she suffered for years before being diagnosed with endometriosis.
The 28-year-old recently said she suffers from extreme pain, nausea, chronic exhaustion, and bladder discomfort with her menstrual cycle.
She, on the other hand, assumed they were normal menstrual symptoms. Foxx didn’t know she needed to see a doctor until her roommate discovered her curled up on the bathroom floor in anguish.
“A roommate told me, ‘Corinne, this is not normal,’” she said. “For me, that was when everything changed in my life. And so I embarked on this adventure to figure out, ‘Well if it’s not normal, what is it?’”
Foxx recalled seeing six doctors, all of whom rejected her problems. She was even warned that she could have a variety of illnesses, including hormone abnormalities and bladder cancer. Despite the magnitude of her pain, she persisted in advocating for herself.
“It was a pretty stressful and frustrating experience,” Fox said. “This trip involves a great deal of medical gaslighting. When women of color present with symptoms, I believe they are frequently hushed or not believed.”
“All you have to do is keep showing up for yourself. I learned that no one would fight harder for my health than I will,” she went on. “Despite being discouraged, that empowered me in the long run.”
Foxx eventually found a specialist who promptly diagnosed her with stage 4 endometriosis, a reproductive illness in which uterine tissue grows outside the uterus, producing cramping and persistent agony.
The disease affects more than 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.
“I look back on that time in my life and realize that, as difficult as it was, it was also empowering because I had to trust myself. I had to listen to my instincts,” Foxx remembered.
“I performed my research and learned about the disease and the correct operation for me,” she continued. “Then I found a specialist, Dr. Iris Orbuch, who did my surgery and elevated so much of the disease for me.”
Foxx had a successful operation with Orbuch in October 2018, saying she is “feeling so much better” now that she is free of unpleasant symptoms.
“My life was affected by the procedure,” she said. “I’m semi-pain-free — endo has a mind of its own sometimes, and some days aren’t the best — but I’ve done so much better for the most part, and it’s such a privilege.”
After her endometriosis battle, Foxx created a documentary to raise awareness about the disease.
The documentary follows various women with endometriosis to highlight the lack of support and knowledge surrounding the ailment and women’s reproductive health.
Corinne joins many celebrities who have spoken honestly about their endometriosis experiences. In the past, Bindi Irwin, Lena Dunham, Halsey, Julianne Hough, Amy Schumer, and Padma Lakshmi have all spoken out about their challenges.
