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Culture August 15, 2018

Lena Dunham reflects on her hysterectomy 9 months later

WATCH: Lena Dunham says she's much happier after weight gain

Lena Dunham is commemorating the nine-month mark since her hysterectomy with a series of nude photos on Instagram.

The "Girls" creator posted three photos of her strategically censored naked body, along with a message about her recovery.

Dunham underwent the surgery last year after a lengthy struggle with endometriosis, a painful disorder in which tissue grows outside the uterus.

“Today is National Leathercraft Day, National Relaxation Day and National Lemon Meringue Pie Day. It's also the 9 month anniversary of my hysterectomy," the actress wrote.

"I've never celebrated the 9 month anniversary of anything and I realized last night why that number feels so funny - I won't ever do it the way I planned to,” she continued, referencing the fact that she will never be able to carry a child.

Dunham added, “My body is mostly healed and every day I find a new bruise on my heart, but today I offer myself gratitude: from the most pained place, I somehow knew to choose myself. The purest glint of who we are and know we can be is always available to us, calm and true at our center."

In February, Dunham, 32, wrote an essay for Vogue in which she revealed she'd underwent the surgery following long stretches of "unbearable" pain and treatment methods that didn't work for her. She added that doctors told her after the procedure that her uterus was "worse than anyone could have imagined."

"I may have felt choiceless before, but I know I have choices now," she wrote. "Soon I’ll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs."

In her more post from Wednesday, Dunham also explained a recent tattoo she got on her side that reads, “RIP Judy.”

"My friend Paul named my uterus Judy, and when she was being uppity we called her out, hence the tattoo on my ribs, which hurt like f*** even through the pain meds: #RIPJudy," she explained.

"Today I give thanks for Judy, for her graceful exit and for this body, which is stronger than I've ever given it credit for. Happy Giving Birth To Myself Day."