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Culumi Nakada, 25 years old, is an up and coming Japanese model and actress. In May last year, Nakada created a blog called, “Every Girl Should Read This. I Beg You.” She shared a photo of her swollen stomach and explained why she had it.
According to BuzzFeed News, Nakada said that while she was having an acupuncture session in the first few days of 2015, someone noticed that her stomach seemed a little too big relatively to her size.
Nakada said, “I was already self-conscious. I even went to the gym, but my stomach wasn’t going down. I’m such a fatty. I spoke to those around me as if to make fun of myself. Maybe I had eaten too much during the New Year festivities.”
At first, she thought that it’s just gastroptosis, which is a non-life-threatening condition of the stomach just going downward. But when she had it checked out, she was recommended that she sees a gynecologist as soon as possible.
Nakada said, “My periods were irregular, so I’d been seeing a gynecologist since I was in high school. However, I had never had an ultrasound. I figured I needed to go get checked properly.”
Nakada was diagnosed with endometriosis and ovarian cysts. According to BuzzFeed News, her ovaries had increased in size to 13 centimeters.
Nakada shared the surgery experience and asked other women to get themselves checked out in order to not fall in the same situation as she was.
She said, “Every year, go to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. Cervical cancer screening. Examination of endometriosis. You ought to have done it properly. I really regret it.”
Commenters praised Nakada for her openness. One of the comments said: “I also suffered from the same illness and I was operated on in November last year.
“It was large with 9×11×7-centimeter tumor, but it was able to be safely removed with laparoscopic surgery that lasted three and a half hours. It was discovered in a cervical cancer screening and it was an experience that made me realize the importance of regular medical examinations.”
Through her experience, Nakada realized that although these issues and problems are somehow common to occur on women, little to nothing had been talked about. She said, “It’s such a common disease that 1 in 10 girls will experience it. If you have 30 friends, 3 of them may have the same issue.”
Another comment said: “I am hospitalized for the same illness right now. Surgery is very scary and I am worried.”
Nakada added, “Revealing personal details to the public is a given. There are countless other models and actresses, so I sometimes think, ‘Even if I die, there will be a replacement.’ Even so, I feel that I am who I am now because I shared details about my personal life like I did.
“Diseases are no good, but it’s also no good to keep things bottled up. If there’s something you want to do, it’s best if you say so. If there’s something you want to get rid of, it’s best if you cut it out.”
Nakada’s surgery went smoothly and it didn’t affect her chances of carrying a child in the future. She wanted to remind women to take care of their physical and mental health just as much as they would take care of their beauty and appearance.
She said, “Girls are often said to buy cosmetics and beauty products in order to look cute, right? However, beauty means nothing without health. They’ll go to a beauty salon, but they won’t go for a comprehensive medical checkup. Even though they are the same price.”
She continued, “People often talk about what age they want to have children by. But that conversation is based on the assumption that you can have children. Even though pregnancy is no simple matter, you may never be aware of that fact if you live your life ‘normally.’ That’s what I realized.”
Today marks the International Women’s Day. Let’s take this chance to focus on issues that matter to women all over the world and focus on how to make them better or solved. Checking one’s own health is a great place to start. Just like what Nakada did, speaking up about things publicly can also help others.
