Health always comes first for Serena Williams. This week, the former tennis star revealed that a benign cyst forced her to miss the Glamour Women of the Year award ceremony. In a TikTok video posted on Oct. 15, Williams revealed that she recently had a branchial cyst the size of a “small grapefruit” removed from her neck.
“Back in May I found a lump showing on my neck. I immediately went to the [doctor], got an MRI, and was told I [had] a branchial cyst. Have you ever heard of that?” Williams captioned the post. “They said I don’t need to get it removed if I don’t want [to] … but it kept growing.”
Showing clips of herself in the hospital, Williams explained that she was initially “mortified by” the cyst when she found it months ago. After undergoing a series of tests and a biopsy, Williams eventually got the cyst removed, per her doctor’s advice after seeing its rapid growth.
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“I decided to get more tests and 3 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 continued in the caption.
“I went under for it but they had to put a drain in it because it was so much. But everything worked out,” she explain in the video. “And I feel really happy to have worked with some great doctors, a little scared here, but excited to move on to the next steps of healing.”
Shortly after leaving the hospital, Williams was back to one of her favorite roles, mom. Closing out the TikTok, the recovering tennis legend showed herself in the American Girl doll store with her eldest daughter, Olympia.
“Mommy is suffering, but mom has to keep showing up,” she said, admitting that she wants to go home and “pass out.”
Though she was able to show up for her daughter and is healing, Williams tweeted about having to miss “so many things” like the Glamour Women of the Year awards and Rafael Nadal’s retirement celebration.
“I am feeling so grateful and fortunate everything worked out,” Williams concluded.”And most of all [that] I’m healthy.”
