Toni Braxton revealed that people asked her to hide that she had lupus after she was diagnosed with it in 2008.
According to People, the singer made the revelation on a recent SHE MD podcast episode.
“I was told to hide that I had lupus. Like,’ Don’t tell anyone.’ “
Co-host Dr. Thais Aliabadi, or Dr. A, asked:
“Who told you that?”
Braxton revealed that management was the culprit as they believed “people get scared around sick celebrities. Nobody gets insured, and I couldn’t get insured.”
Toni Braxton Made The Revelation Alongside Her Rheumatologist
Toni Braxton appeared on the podcast with rheumatologist Dr. Daniel Jeffrey Wallace, who diagnosed her condition.
He chimed in:
“I was president of the Lupus Foundation of America and our problem was we had all these celebrities with lupus but none of them would come out.”
Toni Braxton shared that she couldn’t initially get work.
“No one wanted to put me on the stage. ‘Well, suppose she collapses on stage? And insurance? How are we going to do that?’ “
The singer shared her road to getting the diagnosis of lupus, which occurs when one’s immune system attacks its own organs and tissues.
She revealed that the illness “doesn’t have a look to it.”
The Mayo Clinic describes that some get a facial rash “that resembles the wings of a butterfly unfolding across both cheeks.”
However, the condition is “difficult to diagnose” because its symptoms like joint pain, fever, swelling, and fatigue usually “mimic those of other ailments.”
Wallace revealed:
“It takes an average of three and a half years for somebody with non-organ threatening lupus to get diagnosed and an average of four different doctors.”
Toni Braxton revealed that she visited six doctors before she received her diagnosis, which came after she collapsed while performing.
“I was telling people I don’t feel well… We always try to fake that we’re feeling great or we don’t want to worry anyone. As mothers and women we tend to do anyway.”
She also had this to say to other women with lupus:
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, nothing.”
