For Jenny Powell, talking openly about her hysterectomy has become about far more than sharing her own experience. The presenter, 58, has found herself at the centre of a huge community of women looking for reassurance, information and sometimes simply someone who understands what they are going through.
Speaking to Ateh on this week's Second Act podcast, Jenny - who is hosting the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames this month - explained that she needed a hysterectomy at 56, after years of symptoms caused by an enlarged uterus and fibroids.
“My uterus was a kilogram in weight and I'm not big," she says. "It was sticking out for a while. So since that's gone I do feel much better,” she says.
Because Jenny was already menopausal and taking HRT, she says the timing of the operation meant she had a different mindset around losing her womb. “I think because I had it later on in life, I was like 56, it's not so bad because I was already on HRT, I was already in menopause," she says. So it's not like I still wanted to procreate or anything. So it's different because your mindset is different.”
And Jenny has been determined to approach the subject with her trademark spark and humour: "I make a joke of it I've not got a womb, I've not got the ovaries, but I still feel like a woman, in the words of Shania. I've just got rid of some plumbing that was just giving me migraines and flooding and pain.”
But before reaching that point, Jenny had lived with debilitating symptoms for years, admitting that she had simply carried on rather than recognising how serious things had become. “I let it go too far because my surgeon went, ‘Jenny, I can't believe you've been walking around like that. And I can't believe you've lived with those symptoms for so long.’ And again, I'll go back to what? You just get on with it.”
Jenny's symptoms included heavy bleeding, pain, backache, bladder problems and severe migraines. Her enlarged uterus was pushing on her bladder and kidneys, while the fibroids made everyday life increasingly difficult.
“I remember doing jobs where it might be live events. I'm thinking, I'll wear black just in case,” she recalls. “The pain because the uterus was so big and the fibroids was pushing on my bladder size. Everyone was joking in yoga, I'd have to go and have a wee three times in a class.”
Eventually, the bleeding became impossible to ignore.
“I remember my partner Martin and I stood in the back yard and I was like, oh. And it just went whoosh. And there was just blood all over the floor. And I thought, this is crazy," she says.
Yet it was what happened after her op that Jenny could never have anticipated. While recovering in hospital, she decided to share a selfie on Instagram.
“I remember going into the bathroom thinking, ‘I'm going to take a picture right now of me post-op, and I'm going to either post this or don't.’ And I posted it. And this whole community of women just appeared - like 3 million views overnight! I've got women every single day that message me.”
Since then, Jenny has become an unexpected source of support for women going through similar experiences, with some doctors even recommending that their patients follow her - yes, she's basically become the hysterectomy influencer she didn't know the world needed.
“They say, ‘Look up Jenny's story. Because she will help you.’ The amount of women that have gone forward to have their hysterectomy because they weren't sure, but they followed me seeing the recovery, how I talk about it, etc. It's quite a big responsibility.”
Jenny is conscious that she isn't a health professional and makes sure she directs women towards those who can provide the right medical advice. But she believes that simply talking about hysterectomy can help break down a longstanding taboo.
“It is taboo to talk about hysterectomy," she says. "It's a bit like menopause was."
For Jenny, sharing the blood, sweat and tears of her own experience has created a real community where women can finally talk openly about their bodies, symptoms and choices, without embarrassment.
For more info, visit rewindfestival.com.
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