Serena Williams is opening up about a recent health scare that required surgery to remove a branchial cyst “the size of a grapefruit” from her neck.
On Tuesday, the tennis legend wrote on X that she while she was “still recovering” from the procedure, her condition continued to improve.
In a TikTok video, also shared on Tuesday, Williams, 43, revealed that she first discovered a lump on the side of her neck in May.
“They said I don’t need to get it removed if I don’t want,” she explained. “So I did not get it [removed], but it kept growing.”
“I decided to get more tests, and three tests and one biopsy later, everything is still negative, but doctors advised I get it removed ASAP because it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected, or worse leak,” she wrote in the caption of her video.
She was diagnosed with a branchial cleft cyst, which according to the National Institutes of Health is a benign sac filled with fluid that is found in the neck and can appear as lump of swelling. They tend to grow slowly over a period of weeks or even years.
Williams shared clips of herself in the hospital following the surgery, and despite saying she was “suffering” while shopping at the American Girl Doll store with her daughter Olympia, she was doing much better.
“I am feeling so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I’m healthy.”