In time for endometriosis awareness month, actress Taylour Paige-Angulo vulnerably shared photos of her surgical scars from 2023.

The Instagram carousel was posted on Tuesday, March 4, showing the “Zola” actress posing in multiple photos post-surgery. Paige-Angulo began by calling endometriosis a “lifelong journey of healing.”

“Shows up in women who had to hold a lot in. Pain, heavy bleeding, adhesions- forcing oneself to take on & take in pain that doesn’t belong to you,” she continued in the caption.

Elsewhere, Paige-Angulo continued, “A really violent illness that went undiagnosed for 20 years but caused me so much agony and turmoil.” According to the World Health Organization, the condition impacts 10 percent of women globally and causes tissue to grow outside the uterus resembling the lining of the uterus. The disease can cause pain in the abdomen, intense menstrual cramps and infertility. 

During her surgery, which was four hours long, doctors removed tissue from Paige-Angulo’s rectum, bladder and colon. “The pain would make me see stars. Throwing up every month. Sometimes couldn’t drive,” she continued.

“The worst is how much you gaslight yourself. It’s almost like there’s no way you’re hurting this much? it definitely psychologically does something to you because it’s like you and no one around you believes the pain you’re in. The anxiety of next month. So many times I’ve ruined a costume or a good pair of jeans. In highschool my khaki uniform skirts.”

Paige-Angulo’s caption ended with a note of gratitude for her husband, Gary “Rivington Starchild” Angulo, close friends and “a calm nervous system because I’m experiencing healthy partnership and beautiful sisterhood.”

Additional Black female celebrities who’ve suffered from endometriosis include Tia Mowry, Tiffany Haddish and Gabrielle Union.