By her count,Sarah Hyland, 28, has had about 16 surgeries.
But much of the rest of her health history is not.
After a few years ofoccasionallyreferencingmedical issueswithout going into specifics, she is ready to share more.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Prop Styling by Bryn Bowen. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Dress by Rhode Resort. Waistband and shoes by Nike. Socks by Darner.
I’m in Los Angeles to interview her about it.
We’re tucked away in a back booth on the patio of the Polo Lounge.
Many of the Polo Lounges diners are familiar enough to make my brain itch.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Prop Styling by Bryn Bowen. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Dress by Rhode Resort.
You know the drillthose mundane (yet somehow fascinating!)
details of daily life for a normal celebrity with millions of Instagram followers.
In some important ways, though, this conversation is different.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Marine Serre. Dress by Red Valentino. Leggings and shoes by Nike. Necklace by Fade to Black.
Herhealth conditionsdon’t define her, of course.
But they certainly have had an impact on the day-to-day.
Her large gold glasses magnify them, making them look even bigger.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Prop Styling by Bryn Bowen. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Mr. Larkin. Tee and shoes by Adidas. Skirt by Zimmerman.
She reminds me of a woodland creature that has evolved to peak cuteness as a survival mechanism.
I imagine David Attenborough narrating a nature show about life and death in an unforgiving landscape.
Throughout it all, she has exhibited near-superhuman strength and perseverance.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Prop Styling by Bryn Bowen. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Marine Serre. Dress by Red Valentino. Leggings and shoes by Nike. Necklace by Fade to Black.
Here’s what you may already know.
Kidney dysplasia causes your kidneysthose critical bean-shaped organsto grow cysts.
Those cysts can disrupt the kidneys from doing their job of filtering waste products out of your blood.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Marine Serre. Dress by Red Valentino. Leggings and shoes by Nike. Necklace by Fade to Black.
But Hylands kidney dysplasia was so severe that she went intokidney failure.
Eventually, she needed a transplant.
Her father donated one of his.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Tank and belt by Versus Versace. Dress by Azeeza. Shoes by Puma. Bracelet by Beatrice Valenzuela.
But here is what you don’t know.
In October 2016, Hylands body began to reject the kidney her father donated to save her life.
When you have an organ transplant, it’s basically a foreign thing in your body, she explains.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Balenciaga. Necklace by Beatrice Valenzuela.
Your immune system will want to attack it and be like, What is this?
This is not supposed to be here.
She was overcome with fatigue, and experienced frequent fevers and infections.
Catherine Servel. Wardrobe Styling by Mar Peidro. Prop Styling by Bryn Bowen. Makeup by Allan Avendano at Starworks. Hair by Mark Townsend at Starworks. Manicure by Whitney Gibson at Tomlinson. On Sarah: Top by Marine Serre. Dress by Red Valentino. Leggings by Nike. Necklace by Fade to Black.
She shuttled in and out of the hospital for months.
None of the treatments took.
Her medical team compared the transplanted kidney to a home that had caught on fire.
As Hyland notes, you’re able to’t un-burn a house.
It was her first time on dialysis.
This required implanting a machine called a port into her chest to connect to the dialysis machine.
I called it my tube titty, Hyland says.
Her weight dropped, promptinginvasive public speculation.
She got sciatica (severe pain radiating from the lower back).
Hence her choosing the dialysis center closest to theModern Familyset.
That’s why I’m so independent," she says.
“In some areas of my life, I literally have no choice but tobedependent.
Dialysis wasnt enough to rehabilitate Hylands health.
The transplanted kidney also had to come out, and she would need another transplant.
In May 2017, doctors removed the organ.
He was ready and willing to donate an organ to his big sister.
I probably would have insisted on donating even if I wasnt a match.
The potential of a second kidney transplant was promising for Hylands physical health.
I was very depressed, she says.
As someone who self-identifies as a control freak and micromanager, she says she felt completely helpless.
Talking about her suicidal thoughts with someone close to her helped, Hyland says.
She encourages others going through a hard time to be open about their feelings with their own support networks.
Its not shameful, she says.
It’s not a shameful thing to share.
You don’t need that pop in of person in your life.
I’ve experienced that, and it’s heartbreaking, she says.
Hyland points to a few things that helped her cope throughout her experiences.
Like her dogs, for example.
They sense when shes sick and needs some extra love, she tells me.
Her job has also been a source of strength.
My work is my therapy.
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my work, she says.
And, of course, the support of her family.
Hyland had her second kidney transplant, donated from her brother, in September 2017.
A year and change later, and theyre both doing well.
But he doesn’t regret his choice.
But if it saves the life of someone you care about, anything is worth it.
The thing that I miss most is grapefruit, she says.
I fucking love grapefruit.
But grapefruit can interfere with the immunosuppressants shes on to prevent her body from rejecting her new kidney.
I shouldn’t have said that.
Now everybody out there knows how to poison me.
In a sense, the second time post-transplant is both easier and harder than the first, she says.
Literally wouldn’t even take it out of the pan.
Shes still coming to terms with how her new kidney has changed her bodys appearance, too.
From Hyland’s perspective, this creates the effect of making her lower abdomen protrude a bit.
I call it my KUPA: kidney upper pussy area.
She tries to make light of it, but admits that it can make her feel self-conscious.
It’s this bittersweet moment of, Oh my gosh.
So, yeah, KUPA can throw her for a loop.
Sometimes I have complete meltdowns in the middle of fittings, she says.
Being like, KUPA will show.
I really want to wear this dress and you’re able to’t hide it.
She also hasendometriosis, a very painful chronic reproductive health condition.
“It was this huge blister.”
She says her doctors advised that it wasn’t safe to do the hernia repair until the burn healed.
Theres debate aboutwhat exactly causes endometriosis.
Whats clear is that its often debilitating.
Even after the surgery, she still deals with the painful condition.
[This week] I’ve had a flare-up with my endo, she says.
It has been hard to stand up straight, let alone work.
Endometriosis causes Hyland searing, cramping pain in her lower abdomen that also radiates into her back.
It also doesn’t help that the recovery from the first laparoscopic surgery was almost unbearable, Hyland says.
If you follow Hyland onInstagram, youve probably heard about her uterus at some point or another.
She often talks about her health on her social media accounts, including her experiences dealing with endometriosis.
(“But be careful with heating pads,” she says, for obvious reasons.)
In the video, Hyland sits in her car.
Shes wearing a pretty white dress.
And, she tells viewers, she just got her period.
I dont care if that was too much information, she adds.
She remembers feeling differently when she was younger.
It’s important to talk about and laugh at those situations, she says.
It’s breaking the judgment with humor before you’re criticized.
I’ve been through that.
I’ve dealt with doctors like that.
Those doctors can go to hell.”
So yeah, she’s outspoken about this stuff.
She’s also no stranger to judgment or criticism.
When I mention this figure, she looks a little shocked.
I’m just thinking, Oh, my friends will think this is funny!
Luckily, most of those six million people are devoted fans.
They’re lovely, amazing human beings, Hyland says.
They’re my warriors.
(Yes, she reads them sometimes.)
There’s a lot of amazing, brave women and men out there, she says.
It’s mainly women that reach out to me a lot, especially about endometriosis and kidney failure.
As they flirted, she kept her health issues to herself, assuming nothing serious was going to happen.
He was thousands of miles away in Nashville.
Then I started to really, really like the dude, she says.
Hyland was an avid viewer.
When Adams appeared on the show in 2016, Hyland was happily in a relationship with someone else.
But, as most viewers do, she judged the suitors with her friends.
I’m a dimple person, she says.
They’ll get you every time.
Once Adams was eliminated fromThe Bachelorette, he started playfully reviewing the series on Snapchat.
Hylands friends pointed out to her that they were making the same very specific, very weird jokes.
Every week it was the same thing, she says.
My girlfriends were like, Oh my God, you guys are like the same person.
Later, when they were both single, she tweeted at him.
He slid into her DMs.
Its a perfectly modern love story.
We met each other for the first time three days before my transplant, Hyland says.
The 17th was the Emmys.
The 18th I had work onModern Familyat 6 A.M. and then I went to dialysis afterwards.
Adams was there for her during the recovery process post-transplant.
“He’s seen me at my worst, she says.
Hooked up to all sorts of wires.
In such a tremendous pain medication fog that she still doesnt remember what she said.
He was there through all of that, she says.
The experience brought them closer pretty quickly.
Also, falling in love with someone before you’re able to really be intimate.
I did not believe that that was a thing, but it is.
That, at least, is a bit different now that theyve been together for more than a year.
Its funny because I’ve always been the one that communicates the most in a relationship.
And now he is.
I’m like, Wait, I’m so confused.
If we get in a fight, I’m like, How amIacting like the child?”
We’re just very busy working.
And I think that’s also what makes relationships work, she says.
I’m probably gonna get shit for this, but whatever, she says.
We were dancing, and I had water in one hand.
She was also holding a clutch.
Then…drum roll…he asked to hold her purse.
His response: So she could dance more comfortably.
I was just shocked that someone asked to hold my purse for the first time, she says.
She kept the purse, but he caught, and has kept, her heart.
Oh, I would go up to Ojai, she responds immediately.
It provided everything she needed.
I just need food and animals and winein increments, she says.
And a nice massage.
Ojai has the renowned food and wine.
Theres horseback riding out there, too.
Today, Hyland is learning to trust her body again.
She says she feels most comfortable and confident when she hits a personal record at the gym.
I love to weight lift.
That’s my favorite thing, she says.
Now, lifting weights helps her drill into herself, striking untapped power with every repetition.
Now, she says, she can exercise simply to become stronger, period.
But shes also learning to loosen her grip when necessary.
Now, if her body is telling her what it needs is rest, she tries to honor that.
But she is, she emphasizes, a complete workaholic.
Learning to balance rest and work is vital for Hyland, because shes got a lot in store.
To put it simply, Hyland is feeling pretty good, all things considered.
So far, her second transplant has been a success.
I’m super happy with life, she says.
And her endo pain is obviously still an ominous presence, sometimes more debilitating and overwhelming than other times.
But Hyland is keeping on, and trying to keep everything in perspective.
One day at a time.
My name is Sarah, she says.
I have two of the most amazing dogs in the entire world.
I have the best boyfriend ever, who has the third-most amazing dog in the entire world.
I have the greatest family one could ask for.
I’m on a show that is absolutely unbelievable and surreal, she says.
“Oh, and also, I was born wrong.
In a way that’s not good for your body to keep going.
Oh, and also, I have endometriosis.
Oh, and also, I have kidney failure.
Oh, and also, I’m a two-time kidney recipient.
Oh, and also, I had a frickin' hernia for almost a year that went unnoticed.
That list doesn’t stop, she admits.
She could go on.
Instead she forges forward, as she has done, as she will continue to do.
But that list doesn’t hold me back from anything.
I won’t let it.
