Mae Whitman spoke to People magazine about her battle with endometriosis, which is when uterine tissue grows outside the uterus. It’s incredibly painful and the pain can begin long before menses. Mae said that when she started her journey with it, no one had any answers for her. She recalled filming a scene on One Fine Day in 1996, she would have been seven, that required a great deal of running. Mae got so sick that she couldn’t do it. She was left scared and alone, thinking she was staring down a life of pain. For years, doctors told her it was just “period related” in that familiar “deal with it” way women often hear from the medical profession. Mae reached out to her friend Lena Dunham and was finally able to start managing her symptoms. Now she’s hoping to help others avoid the suffering she went through.
Mae Whitman is hoping to help others by sharing her journey with endometriosis.
As she grew older, Whitman — who is currently gearing up for the fourth season of NBC’s Good Girls — says she “tried everything” in order to get answers, but was unable to find a solution.
“I tried birth control and all the things that they said and my cramps were not normal,” says Whitman. “I went to so many doctors over the years. And I would just say, ‘What is it?’ First they would say period pain is normal. And I was like, ‘Okay, I’m barfing into the toilet seven times every single time.’ And then they would say, ‘Well, you should go on birth control because it could be this weird thing called endometriosis, that we don’t really know a lot about and the only thing you can do to fix it, is this really complicated surgery, and even then you usually have to come in like 10 times to get that to work.’ And I was like, ‘But what is it?’ ”
“I remember I kept going, and I just would leave these appointments just crying hysterically in my car, because I felt so gaslit,” she adds. “I didn’t understand what it was.”
“I had a particularly bad time where I ended up having to go to the emergency room,” Whitman recalls. “I thought I was dying, and I have a really, really high tolerance for pain. I couldn’t do a job on The Handmaid’s Tale because I was so sick. I had to give up a guest role, which I really wanted to do. I’d be laying half in and out of the shower, and an hour late for my call time, and barfing. And finally, I had to go to the hospital.”
“I still didn’t know what it was or how to treat it, so finally, I reached out to Lena Dunham, because I knew that she’d had issues with this as well,” she adds. “And she recommended me to Dr. Iris Orbuch and I remember the first thing they do, is they hand you a big book of all of these testimonials and letters that these people wrote. And I just immediately burst into tears, just reading the letters, because it was the first time I’d ever felt like someone said, ‘This is what I have. This is what it is, is what it feels like, and there is a way out.’”
After getting the answers she’d been longing for, Whitman says she was able to find a manage her symptoms.
[From People]
I don’t give Lena credit for much, but I do think she is an important advocate for endometriosis health, and I appreciate her not backing down even when people accused of using her condition for sympathy. Dr. Orbauch is based in Los Angles and New York City but hopefully endometriosis clinics are appearing in major cities and beyond. I felt it when Mae said the first thing they did was hand her a huge book of testimonials. It cannot be overstated how important it is to let people know they are not alone. I love that Mae’s paying it forward now that she’s finally gotten answers.
I’m curious to know which role in Handmaids Tale Mae had to pass on. She’s good in all her roles. The whole point of her role in Arrested Development (her?) was that she was entirely forgettable and by embodying that, Mae became absolutely unforgettable. She perfectly blends into her cast dynamic. I have a whole new appreciation for her talent on screen after learning this. I’m glad Mae is feeling better. I wish her and anyone else battling this beast much luck. Hopefully the medical community will catch up with women’s health so we can all – equally – live more comfortable lives in the near future.
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