When acknowledging that she kept postponing medical appointment for her chest pains, the 'Unbreak My Heart' singer blames the dismissal on her grief over the death of her sister.
- April 26, 2023
AceShowbiz - Toni Braxton feels lucky to be alive after coming close to a "massive heart attack." The "Unbreak My Heart" singer, who was diagnosed with autoimmune condition lupus in 2008, admitted that kept postponing a medical appointment for the chest pains she began suffering with since 2022, attributing them to grief over the death of her sister.
When appearing on "Today With Hoda and Jenna", Toni confessed, "I had some pain in my chest." She went on to spill, "But I was having this pain in my chest and I thought it was because I was so sad, we had just lost one of my sisters."
The 55-year-old singer eventually went to her appointment, and was shocked after undergoing tests, which showed a problem with the main artery in her heart. She said, "I was told that I would have had a massive heart attack. And I wouldn't have survived."
"Even sometimes when I talk about it, I get a little emotional about it," she further elaborated. "Because I feel so fortunate and so blessed. And I was not going to go to that appointment. You put things off, 'I'll do it tomorrow. Everything's OK. I'm sure I'm fine.' "
The tests also saw Toni's kidneys were having trouble because of her lupus. She said, "Having SLE, so it can attack any organ in my body. Now it's starting to affect my kidneys. I'm here to talk about it, 'cause had I not did that appointment, I would not be here today talking to you guys. So I want to educate people about that."
The Grammy-award winning star admitted she sometimes "gets sad" over her health issues but she tries to be optimistic. She said, "Some days I do get sad. I'm not gonna lie ... some days I'm sad, but there are good and bad days. And I always try to think of the glass half full ... always a silver lining."
Though Toni is thankful she "can still sing," she is no longer able to tour the way she used to. She said, "I know I'll never be able to do shows seven days a week again, five to seven days. I love performing, that's my favorite thing to do, but I can do one-offs. I can do shows here and there."
