Julianne Hough underwent a second laparoscopy to treat her endometriosis, nine years after her first surgery. She was lucky enough to have the support of her adorable dog Lexi on both occasions.
The 29-year-old former Dancing With The Stars pro posted a Flashback Friday gallery on Instagram, featuring a photo from 2008, with a much-younger Lexi by her side.
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“Cut to (SWIPE RIGHT) 9 years later and not much has changed… except the size of her little head,” Hough wrote. “My second laparoscopy for my Endometriosis was over the holidays and of course, who was right by my side? My guardian angel Lexi.”
Hough asked her fans if their dogs are their guardian angels.
“Lexi always knows when I’m sick, feeling sad, or when I need her, and I don’t even know it… Dogs are just incredible!!! I love my Lexi soooo much!!!!” Hough wrote.
Hough was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2008. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is a condition where tissue that usually lines the inside of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
In March 2017, Hough told PEOPLE that she started feeling the symptoms of the condition when she was 15.
“When I was 15, I had symptoms of endometriosis, but I had never heard of it, didn’t know what it was. I thought that this was just the kind of pain you have when you’re on your period,” Hough explained. “For years, for I was just thinking that was normal and never really talked about it.”
After she was feeling stomach pains during DWTS in 2008, she was diagnosed with endometriosis.
“I found out that I had endometriosis and that I needed to get surgery that week,” she told PEOPLE.
Hough also told Redbook that doctors did not take her early concerns serious enough.
“Yeah, when I would say I was in serious pain, they’d be like, ‘Oh, well, it’s probably just your time of the month, and some people have more pain,’” Hough recalled. “So when I found out I had a disease, I knew I had to speak out about it. Women deserve to feel heard, accepted, and supported, even if the topic makes some people uncomfortable.”
Hough told PEOPLE she was nervous when she first got the news because endometriosis is not talked about often. So, she teamed up with AbbVie for “Get in the Know about ME in EndoMEtriosis” to raise awareness for the condition.
Photo credit: Instagram/ Julianne Hough
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