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Aside from premiering a few music videos earlier this summer and some sweet street style couple moments with her beau, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez has largely been out of the spotlight the past couple of months, a choice many attributed to her desire to preserve some of her mental energy, a decision she outlined in her Vogue cover story earlier this year. But in a surprising and candid social media post on Thursday morning, the 25-year-old star revealed one of the likely reasons why she’s been out of the public eye: Gomez has been recuperating from a kidney transplant performed earlier this year.
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Gomez shared a photo on Instagram showing her and her friend Francia Raisa holding hands in a pair of hospital beds. “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. 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,” she wrote in the caption.
In the revealing post, Gomez also shared a few pictures of her scar from the surgery. “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 incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me prior to and post-surgery,” she continued. “And finally, 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. I love you so much, sis.”
In July, Raisa, an actress who starred in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, shared a photo of the two of them captioned: “Feliz cumpleaños a mi hermana, my forever friend.”
Gomez has struggled with the autoimmune disease for years. In August 2016, she canceled her worldwide concert tour after suffering from depression, panic attacks, and anxiety—all side effects of lupus. “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness, and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off,” she wrote to her fans at the time. “I know I am not alone by sharing this. I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues.” By taking her own advice and going public with her health woes, it looks like she’s continuing to set a great example.
