Selena Gomez’s kidney “flipped” after surgery, and here’s what that means
Watching BFF Francia Raisa Raisa donate a kidney to Selena Gomez this summer was so emotional, but now that both stars are opening up about the procedure, it’s official: They made it look way easier than it was. In a new interview with Selena Gomez says that her kidney “flipped” after the initial surgery and it turned into a 6 hour operation instead of just two.
Whew, we’re just glad she’s OK.-/subheader]
She didn’t go into too much detail about her “flipped” kidney, so it’s not clear exactly what the cause was. But it is common for people to have a “floating” kidney, which can cause extraordinary amounts of pain. Nephroptosis, as it’s called by medical professionals, is more common in women than in men and means that the kidney moves around when a person stands up. So whether Gomez had this condition as a symptom of her lupus before going in for surgery or something happened mid-procedure, Grey’s Anatomy-style — it’s intense AF.
We already knew Gomez was a badass, but she continues to amaze us every time we hear more about her health struggles. She’s been battling lupus since 2012, but only spoke about it in public in 2015. She told Today, “My mentality was just to keep going.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HaqZjj0qvY?feature=oembed
Even those closest to her weren’t privy to everything that she had going on. Raisa said that one day she was watching her friend struggle with opening a bottle. “She chucked it and she started crying. I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ and that’s when she told me. She goes, ‘I don’t know what to do. The list is seven to 10 years long,’” Raisa recounted.
It was then that Raisa insisted on getting tested to see if she could be a donor. Of course, Gomez refused, assuming that her friend would have too much going on for a major surgery (Raisa is part of Grown-ish, the Black-ish spinoff with Yara Shahidi.)
It was really vulnerable for Gomez to accept the kidney and scary for Raisa going in, since she had to write a will before the surgery *just in case* and her mom was rightfully worried for both of them. It’s a good reminder that even though the two women are all smiles in their Instagram posts about the surgery and in interviews, it had to have been a terrifying time.
Hopefully both of them have recovered and are feeling better. And inspire other besties to always get real with each other, since only good things can come of it.
