After her kidney transplant SELENA’S BRAVE BATTLE CONTINUES
Surgery isn’t enough to keep Selena Gomez out of harm’s way in the future
Sipping from a to-go coffee cup, Selena Gomez strolled around the NYC set of her new, untitled Woody Allen movie looking relaxed on Sept. 14. But hours earlier, the star had dropped a bombshell: Her battle with the autoimmune disease lupus had led Selena to get a secret kidney transplant this summer with an organ donated by close pal Francia Raisa. “It was what I needed to do for my overall health,” the actress and singer explained on Instagram. “I want to…thank my family and incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me.”
But the fight of Selena’s life has just begun. The star will now require lifelong treatment, doctors tell Life & Style, not only for her lupus but also to ensure her body doesn’t reject her new kidney. And physical complications lie waiting at every turn. “Selena has had a nerve-wracking summer,” reveals an insider.
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS
Selena, 25, hasn’t let her illness slow her down, though. While the star took a break for the surgery and recovery, her schedule’s been packed day and night since she arrived in NYC in early September. When she wasn’t filming, she hit a host of Fashion Week events, including parties on Sept. 8 and 9 and a Coach runway show on Sept. 12. She even hosted a meet and greet on Sept. 13 to introduce fans to a new bag she co- designed with Coach. Doctors caution that Selena shouldn’t push herself too much. “People recover and go back to work,” NYC lupus expert and rheumatologist Dr. Robert Fafalak, who doesn’t treat Selena, tells Life & Style, “but running around, being up all night, that’s not something I would advise. It takes time for the kidney, which filters a lot of waste products in the body, to start working fully.”
The cards already are stacked against Selena. With lupus, the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs — and Dr. Fafalak
says the fact that the star required a transplant means her case is more serious than most. “Other organs, like the lungs, can become involved,” he notes. “Your life span when you have something like this could potentially be shortened.”
People with lupus need to avoid drinking, Dr. Fafalak says, and Dr. Jane Salmon, director of the lupus center at NYC’S Hospital for Special Surgery, says lupus patients need to steer clear of smoking forever to give themselves a better chance at living a long, healthy life. But even if Selena does everything right, doctors say she might need another operation in the future. “There’s definitely reports that after several years, transplants just wear out,” says Dr. Fafalak. “[But] it really is variable from person to person.”
Selena has been fighting for years. She went to rehab twice, in 2014 and 2016, for lupus-related issues, even undergoing chemotherapy in a bid to suppress her symptoms. And before Francia (see sidebar) stepped up as a donor this summer, Selena reportedly was on a kidney wait list.
Her boyfriend of nine months, The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), 27, has been by Selena’s side throughout the ordeal, even living with her in NYC, and he plans to stay there. “He’s been a tower of strength for Selena,” says a source. “The operation has really brought them closer together.”