In 2015 Selena Gomez revealed that she was diagnosed with lupus and underwent chemotherapy. The 25-year-old singer has been in and out of the hospital and just recently she announced that she received the greatest gift any person could ever receive, a kidney transplant.
“I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of,” she wrote on Instagram. “So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health.”
Her friend, actress Francia Racia donated her kidney to the singer. “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa,” she captioned the pic of her and Raisa, 29, side-by-side holding hands in hospital beds. “She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much, sis.”
In addition, she shared photos of her transplant scars. “I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you. Until then I want to publicly thank my family and the incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me prior to and post-surgery.”
Gomez has shared some of the health woes she’s had to deal with after her lupus diagnosis a couple of years ago. Every person goes through their own journey when diagnosed with this type of disease and the symptoms and complications can vary from person to person. Gomez underwent chemotherapy and even had to deal with depression. People can have mild or more aggressive symptoms during the various stages of lupus, but from the looks of it, her diagnosis seems more severe.
Lupus nephritis is a complication that causes inflammation in the kidneys. When this happens, the kidneys are unable to properly filter toxins from the body out through the urine. In severe cases, the kidneys may not be able to filter the blood properly and a person can even go into complete liver failure if not treated.
Kidney transplants are extremely difficult to get, especially when you are put on a kidney transplant waiting list. The wait for a deceased donor could be 5 years or more depending on how long you’ve been on the waiting list, blood type, immune system activity and other factors. Living donors go through a vigorous screening and multiple blood tests to make sure they are healthy and a good match for the person receiving the kidney. The good news is that once the kidney transplant is deemed successful, there’s very little chance of the kidney becoming infected again.
After the kidney transplant, Gomez will more than likely be taking prescription medicine to treat not only lupus but more drugs that support her new kidney, for the rest of her life. It’s definitely a very difficult thing that Gomez is going through, but thankfully she has an amazing support system and friend that gave her an amazing gift.