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There’s no denying recent months have been tumultuous for former Today Show star Karl Stefanovic, but now it’s been revealed that behind the scenes his wider family has been doing it tougher.
On November 3, Karl’s sister-in-law Jade Yarbrough – the sister of his wife Jasmine – went public with details of a “serious” diagnosis she’d been battling in private.
“I’m a very private person and certainly not one to share anything personal on here, but I promised myself that, when I was ready, I would share this. And if this post can help just one girl on their journey then it has done its job,” interior designer Jade shared in an Instagram post to her 18,000 followers.
She went on to share harrowing details of her struggle with Stage Four Endometriosis, revealing that earlier this year her body “stopped making sense” to her.
Endometriosis is a condition by which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it – and Stage Four is a severe form of the condition, which can bind organs together and see a sufferer experience large ovarian cysts.
“Collapsed and floor with pain, what started as burst ovarian cyst turned into persistent and debilitating pain, crazy blood sugar fluctuations… injections, endless blood tests, scans, ED visits, morphine injections, specialists and a lot of unanswered questions,” Jade revealed in her emotional post, explaining that at one point there were concerns she had “multiple tumours” throughout her abdomen.
“For over eight weeks, I could barely walk,” she explained. “My body was failing me.”
Jade explained she finally found a specialist who operated on her to discover she had “advanced” endo which required removal, along with her appendix.
“Before this, I’ll admit I didn’t truly understand how serious, complex and completely debilitating this disease can be until it happened to me,” she admitted.
“I think, like a lot of people, I had filed it somewhere under really bad periods (which I never had). I couldn’t be more wrong”.
Jade went on to share that her journey was not yet over and there was “no simple answer” to what comes next.
“And that’s partly why I’m writing this now, before I have a perfectly wrapped up ending,” she wrote, urging others to listen to their body.
Jade received an outpouring of support for her candid post from friends including Ellidy Pullin who called her a “trooper”, and Karl Stefanovic’s daughter Willow who told her, “Love you so much Jadey. You are so so strong.”
“Love you sisso xxx,” Jade replied.
Jade’s sister Jasmine also reacted with two love heart emojis.
Indeed, Jasmine has no doubt been a pillar of strength not just to Jade in recent months, but also to her husband as he undergoes a life change stemming from his axing from Nine earlier this year.
There is no doubt that Karl is more reliant on his fledgling podcast The Karl Stefanovic Show to earn cash than he was when he was pocketing a tidy sum as the Today Show co-anchor – which is perhaps why the star unleashed with a furious rant after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates to the highest level in 18 years.
Taking to social media hours after the announcement was made on November 3, Karl declared that the Australian way of life was under “direct threat”.
“The quality of life we’ve worked generations to build, the fair go that we’ve lived and breathed for generations is being systematically crushed.”
While acknowledging that he was “lucky” to have “carved out a life” he took aim at successive governments’ “reckless spending” for the plight now facing ordinary Australians.
“Governments aren’t going to save us right now. The RBA isn’t riding to the rescue with a magic wand,” he declared.
“This road is going to be downright brutal for a lot of good people. So check on your mates. We are resilient. We are angry. We’ve survived droughts, floods, fires and wars. So we will survive this.”
