Jelena Dokic rushed to emergency room one hour after finishing US Open coverage

Jelena Dokic has urged her fans to be vigilant about their health after an unexpected trip to the emergency room.

Posting on Instagram from Melbourne's Epworth Hospital this afternoon, the athlete-turned-commentator said a "pretty big" fibroid – a non-cancerous growth in the uterus – had been found and will be removed via surgery later in the year.

"When you end up in the emergency room an hour after finishing the day's US Open coverage," she began her caption, reassuring fans she "will be OK".

"Just wanted to post this as a reminder and caution for our health especially women and our reproductive health.

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"[The fibroid] was dismissed as nothing major (a lot of women have it and live with it). Apparently. Whatever that means.

"And while that can be the case, yes, a lot of cases will also be affected more than others by the size of it, pain, flare ups and bleeding. Which is what happened to me."

The former tennis player said "something [had] felt off" in the last few months, and said in the leadup to her surgery to remove the fibroid, the focus will be "managing pain, heavy bleeding and flare ups".

"So I want this post to be an important reminder. Follow your instincts and gut feeling," she continued.

"If something feels off, don't ignore it. Even if it ends up being nothing, it's better to be safe than something going really wrong later.

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"Do your regular check ups and any kind of even the slightest pain or something out of the ordinary go straight to your doctor."

Dokic, who won her first Logie earlier this month, urged her followers not to ignore pain, and to be vigilant about regular check-ups.

"And most importantly never allow anyone to tell you that it's nothing, how you should be feeling and always get a second opinion and fight for yourself and your health," she said.

"You know yourself best and if there is pain or something is off and someone dismisses it, go to another person and don't take no for an answer when it comes to scans, tests and check ups.

"You will always be your own best advocate for your health.So fight for yourself and don't take no for answer."

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Dokic concluded her post by thanking the "incredible healthcare workers" who'd attended to her at Epworth.

"The work you do is incredible and thank you for taking care of me and making sure I was ok in the best and fastest way possible. You are all amazing. Legends," she wrote.

Per Healthdirect, fibroids are non-cancerous growths found in the muscle layer of the uterus, and vary in size. Also known as myomas, they are common and it's possible to have many at once.

When fibroids cause symptoms, these can include heavy or long-lasting periods, bleeding between periods and period pain, painful sex and pain or pressure in the pelvis or lower back.

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