“I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my lupus and was recovering,” Selena captioned a photo on Instagram of her and her friend, actress Francia Raisa, lying in hospital beds. “It was what I needed to do for my overall health.”
Selena, who shared the information partially in response to fans wondering why she had been laying low this summer and not promoting her music, also shared that it was Francia who donated the kidney.
“There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed,” she wrote. “I love you so much sis.”
The 25-year-old also thanked her doctors in the post and pointed people who are unfamiliar with lupus to the Lupus Research Alliance.
Additionally, she shared photos of the new scar on her abdomen.
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In October 2015, the singer shared that she suffers from lupus, and was undergoing chemotherapy to treat the autoimmune condition. A year later she took a career break because of it.
“As many of you know, around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways,” she told People magazine in 2016. “I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks, and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lupus is the result of an unknown trigger that causes a person’s own immune system to attack their tissues. This causes damage to the tissue and widespread inflammation. The most common type of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), affects different parts of the body, including the internal organs like the kidneys.
According to the CDC, people with SLE experience fatigue, pain, or swelling in the joints, fevers, sun sensitivity, oral ulcers, arthritis, skin rashes, seizures, psychosis, blood cell and immunological abnormalities, and problems with the heart, lungs, or kidneys. These symptoms present during a flare-up of the disease, which happen at different levels of frequency for those who have it. The primary treatment for SLE is drugs that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system.
Selena says that she'll be sharing more updates soon, writing, "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."
Here's hoping the road to recovery is a smooth one for Selena!
This article originally appeared on Women's Health US.
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