Lena Dunham marks one-year anniversary of hysterectomy with emotional message

Lena Dunham has been surprised by her strength since having a hysterectomy a year ago.

The former Girls star took to Instagram on Wednesday night (14Nov18) to mark the one-year anniversary of her operation, which she underwent in November 2017 after a long battle with severe endometriosis.

She posted a picture from the night after her surgery in which she is cuddling a teddy bear alongside a new snap which was taken Wednesday night and showed her looking happier and more fresh-faced, and reflected on how far she has come since.

"I was smiling (in the first photo) but my eyes say it all: full of anxiety and grief that I couldn’t locate through the layers of pain meds and benzos," she wrote. "Severe undiagnosed PTSD, feelings that my worth and purpose were being taken from me, angry and self-pitying with no sense of how I’d emerge. Plus, my hair had fallen out in odd clumps and I’d taken it upon myself to dye what remained electric blue cuz if you’re gonna spiral why not SPIRAL (sic)."

She then told fans she was now "happy joyous and (substance) free", and while the past year hasn't been "all roses" it had proved to her the "presence of the divine" thanks to the kindness she had received from family, friends and fans and her own strength.

"Mostly I’ve found it in my own strength, because who the f**k knew. And I don’t mean strength as in powering through," she continued. "I mean strength as in vulnerability, feeling it all, taking it as it comes and dancing even with a hospital grade pad in my underwear. I surprised myself. I bet you can surprise yourself too."

Lena, 32, went public with her endometriosis diagnosis in her Lenny Letter online forum in 2015, and revealed she had undergone an operation to remove her uterus and cervix in an essay for American Vogue in February.