Last week, actress Marsai Martin underwent surgery to remove an ovarian cyst she had for a while.

She shared the news through her Instagram story with a black-and-white video showing a doctor wheeling her to surgery.

“If u missed my live, long story short I had surgery for my large ovarian cyst that gave me constant pain for 4+ years,” she wrote in her story. “I really don’t remember any of this s**t ’cause of the anesthesia lol, but I will say, I am very grateful to have family and educators by my side in support of this process.”

She continued, “The only reason I’m sharing is so I can hopefully spread awareness and share my experience to the young women out there that may be going through the same thing or have different menstrual cycles. You are never alone. Listen to your body. It always shows your signs. Health is wealth.”

Martin went live on Instagram recently to give her experience before the surgery and after.

“…terrible for me when…it was time to have my cycle again,” Martin told viewers. “It would be in the times where I didn’t need it. It needed to go. I had it on the last day of Black-ish

. Literally, the last day of Black-ish, it was the worst ’cause of just how my body was, and then I had it on my 17th birthday. I couldn’t even celebrate and go downstairs…I’d be locking myself in my room and just be like out of it. I’d be done.”

She then stated she had been going through that for the “longest time” and accepted that it was how things would be for her. Eventually, her parents convinced her to go to the emergency room. After an ultrasound, Martin discovered a huge ovarian cyst. Doctors allowed her to choose between birth control or surgery to handle the cyst. Martin chose surgery since birth control didn’t work well for her family.

In her Instagram story, the Little actress updated her followers on her health status, thanking them for their love and support.

“Thank y’all for all the love,” she wrote. “The procedure was 10 days ago, and I’m now feeling fine. I also appreciate the stories from folks that have been [through] the same thing! But I’m back, and I’m betta.”