An n actress, best known for her role in Neighbours, has opened up about her ongoing health battle with an invisible illness which left her suffering in silence until she was finally given a diagnosis.
Jordy Lucas, 32, revealed after landing her dream role on the Aussie soap as a teenager, she began to suffer from excruciating and irregular periods.
However, due to a common misconception that painful periods are normal, Ms Lucas’ concerns were shrugged off by doctors.
The actress remembers one episode where she was rushed to hospital after finishing a scene for Neighbours because she’d been bleeding for several weeks.
‘I felt like I was going to pass out,’ she told News.com.au.
Jordy Lucas (pictured) was diagnosed with endometriosis last year after more than a decade of suffering from chronic pain and heavy periods
Ms Lucas, best known for her role on Neighbours (pictured), began suffering symptoms after landing her dream role on the Aussie soap
Once again, her pain and bleeding were dismissed, and Ms Lucas was prescribed the contraceptive pill.
To a certain extent, the pill helped her manage her symptoms, and she stayed on it for several years – including during her time living in America.
In 2020, she made the difficult choice to go off the pill after suffering from migraines and found all the contraceptive had done was mask her original symptoms.
She, again, began suffering from chronic pain and heavy periods but continued to be dismissed by doctors as nothing appeared abnormal in ultrasounds.
Even though her symptoms were a textbook case of endometriosis, a disease an estimated one million Aussies will suffer in their lives, she found it difficult to get a diagnosis.
On average, it takes seven years for an n to be diagnosed with endometriosis, often because the pain is written off as menstrual cramps.
Ms Lucas did her best to continue with her everyday life, but the pain became increasingly debilitating, and her heavy periods would make her anaemic.
Ms Lucas (pictured) was dismissed by doctors and prescribed the contraceptive pill as a way of masking her symptoms
READ MORE: Four little-known signs of endometriosis REVEALED
It was during this time she realised she was lucky to work as an actress as she’d be unable to keep up with the strain of a nine-to-five job.
She finally was given the green flag to undergo keyhole surgery but admitted she was paranoid doctors wouldn’t find anything wrong and label her as melodramatic.
However, the medical team was able to confirm Ms Lucas had endometrioses in May of 2023, and she burst into tears at the relief of being ‘validated’.
‘I had to fight for years to be taken seriously; by the time I was taken seriously, I was stage four, and everything [internal organs] was fused together,’ she said.
Ms Lucas underwent excision surgery in January 2024 to remove excess endometrial tissue and, in February, shared pathology findings from the procedure.
‘Extensive, deep infiltrating endometriosis, adenomyosis and ovarian cysts. Things that certainly don’t belong together, were literally stuck together,’ she said.
‘I feel vindicated, but I also feel incredibly angry. Angry that this diagnosis took over ten years. Angry that I was made to feel like a drug-seeking hypochondriac.
‘What I’m most angry about is that I began to question myself, my own body, my own pain.’
Ms Lucas (pictured) underwent excision surgery in January, 2024, to remove excess endometrial tissue and described being ‘angry’ her diagnosis took so long
Since her diagnosis, Ms Lucas has shared her endometriosis journey online in an attempt to remedy the ’embarrassment’ and ‘shame’ she used to feel.
She also encourages women to advocate for their health and trust their instincts.
‘Hoping I can help women better advocate for themselves during diagnosis and treatment of this hideous disease,’ she said.
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