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On January 22, 1992, a worldwide phenomenon was born in the small town of Grand Prairie, Texas. Selena Marie Gomez is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television producer. In 2001, her acting career started with her debut on seasons seven and eight on Barney & Friends as Giana. However, in 2007, she received wider recognition when she played Alex Russo on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, that aired until 2012. In 2009, she started her singing career with her band, Selena Gomez & the Scene. Despite their success, the group later split in 2012 when Selena started focusing on her solo career. Her solo career was an even bigger success, and it continues to climb today. Throughout her career, she has been a part of UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), had a clothing line, produced a hit Netflix original, Thirteen Reasons Why, acted in movies and has had a solo career.

During an interview, Gomez told Maxine Shen of the New York Post, “I don’t really like to rest too much…. I do constantly like to work. I believe that it keeps me going and makes me happy.”1 However, her career was put on hold in the year 2016, when she shared that she had been diagnosed with Lupus.2 While she had first been diagnosed in 2013, she wanted to keep it a secret from the public. During an interview, she was asked what made her come out and share her having the disease, she responded, “I waited for the right time to talk about it because I am in a great place, and I’m very healthy. I’m not trying to be loud about it: It was time to use my platform to help.”3 


Picture of the areas on your body that Systemic Lupus affects | December 22, 2019 | Courtesy of Wikimedia

“Lupus, an autoimmune disease, is caused by vascular inflammation (vasculitis) that results in significant damage to a number of different body systems and organs, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, and brain.”4 Selena was diagnosed with the form of the disease most commonly meant by lupus, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). SLE is most common in people between the ages of fifteen and forty-five. The causes of lupus, a complex disease, are not understood. It is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are easy to confuse with those of many other disorders. Also, there is no distinct symptom profile that applies to every patient with lupus. However, what is known is that lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the body’s immune system turns against its own tissues, producing autoantibodies, which are “protein molecules that target the person’s own cells, tissues, or organs, causing inflammation and tissue damage.”5 In lupus, the autoantibodies damage the blood vessels in such vital organs as the kidneys.6


Post-surgery picture of Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa | September 14, 2017 | Courtesy of Selena Gomez

After traveling the world over the last few months for her 2016 Revival Tour, Selena Gomez announced that she’d be taking a break to take care of herself. The Revival Tour lasted from May 6, 2016 to August 13, 2016. During an interview with People Magazine, Selena stated, “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. Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best. I know I am not alone by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues.”7 In 2013, Selena had started her treatment with chemotherapy. In 2014 and 2016, she went to rehabilitation centers to try to improve her condition. However, nothing was working, Selena was getting worse. She was weeks away from starting dialysis before she had found a kidney donor. She was told that she’d have to wait between seven and ten years for a new kidney. Upon hearing the news, many of her family members got tested, but none were a match. It was not until her friend and roommate, Francia Raisa, got tested that she found a positive match. Without hesitation, Francia offered to give Selena her kidney.


SLE can occur in both males and females of all ages, but 90% of patients are women. The majority of these women are in their childbearing years. One of the symptoms that SLE contains is edema. Edema is where extra fluid that your kidneys cannot remove that causes swelling in body parts like your legs, ankles, or around your eyes. Recommendations for improving general health to avoid flares include decreasing sun exposure, getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, decreasing stress, and exercising regularly. However, if none of these work, your kidneys will eventually fail and you’ll need to either get a transplant or try dialysis until you can get a new kidney. It is unusual for lupus to come back in the new kidney. Lupus patients with new kidneys do as well as any other patients with transplanted kidneys. Once the new kidney is transplanted, most people will be rid of Lupus.8


Selena Gomez’s scar post-surgery | September 14, 2017 | Courtesy of Selena Gomez

During the summer of 2017, Selena and Francia underwent a successful surgery that saved Selena’s life.9 “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me,” said Gomez.10 On Instagram, Selena posted a picture of the scar left by the surgery. Following the surgery, Selena’s body would experience changes, including this visible one. During an interview for Billboard Magazine, Selena was asked “Do you feel comfortable with your scar?” She answered, “I do. I didn’t, but I do now. It was really hard in the beginning. I remember looking at myself in the mirror completely naked and thinking about all the things that I used to [complain] about and just asking, “Why?” When I look at my body now, I just see life. There are a million things I can do — lasers and creams and all that stuff — but I’m OK with it. I feel like I’m wonderfully made.”11 

Months after the transplant, Selena is recovering well and feeling healthier than she has in a while, a close friend of hers shared with the media, “She’s really bounced back more quickly than everyone expected.”12 Selena stated that as soon as she got the new kidney, her arthritis went away. The doctors had also told her that the chances of her Lupus returning would be between three and five percent. “My blood pressure is better. My energy and my life has been better,”  Selena explained.13

Since she came out with having Lupus, she is using her platform to bring awareness to the disease.  “I just really hope we can help somebody,” said Selena.14 By fighting this fight in the public life she advocates and relates to those going through the same thing. Selena said while tearing up, “I don’t think what we went through was easy. I don’t think it was fun. And I just hope this inspires people to know there are really good people in the world.”15

Although Selena Gomez, had to take a break from fame, her fans had never left her side. She has announced that she is releasing her new album, SG2, in January 2020. While she was on The Tonight Show, she told Jimmy Fallon, “It took me four years now to even feel at a good place with this album, and it’s just because I had such huge moments that happened in my life personally that ‘how was I going to capture that?’ and ‘how was I actually going to feel good about what I was saying?’ So I just kept going, and I’m relieved.”16 The last time she released an album was Revival in October of 2015. Her hit song, “Lose You to Love Me,” released October 23, 2019, has had over 39 million streams.17 Selena did not let her diagnosis with Lupus stop her. She knew the steps that she had to take in order to be 100% again. She has now come back into the spotlight better than ever and  is ready to defeat any obstacle that comes her way.

 

 

 

  1. A. Petruso, Newsmakers 2011 Cumulation (Detroit, Michigan: Gale, 2011).
  2. Pernilla Cedenheim, Melody Chiu, and Patrick Gomez, “Selena Gomez: Saved by a Friend’s Gift,” People, October 2, 2017.
  3. Diana Pearl, “What Selena Gomez Has Said About Dealing with her Health in the Public Eye,People, November 21, 2017.
  4. Rebecca J Frey, U.X.L. Encyclopedias of Diseases and Disorders (Detroit, Michigan: U.X.L., 2009).
  5. Rebecca J Frey, U.X.L. Encyclopedias of Diseases and Disorders (Detroit, Michigan: U.X.L., 2009).
  6. Rebecca J Frey, U.X.L. Encyclopedias of Diseases and Disorders (Detroit, Michigan: U.X.L., 2009).
  7. Melody Chiu, “Selena Gomez Taking Time off  after dealing with ‘Anxiety Panic Attacks and Depression’ due to her Lupus Diagnosis,” People, August 30, 2016, https://people.com/celebrity/selena-gomez-taking-a-break-after-lupus-complications/.
  8. Hayley Mitchell Haugen, Perspectives on Diseases and Disorders (Detroit, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2010).
  9. Pernilla Cedenheim, Melody Chiu, and Patrick Gomez, “Selena Gomez: Saved by a Friend’s Gift,” People, October 2, 2017.
  10. Pernilla Cedenheim, Melody Chiu, and Patrick Gomez, “Selena Gomez: Saved by a Friend’s Gift,” People, October 2, 2017.
  11. Brooke Mazurek, “Woman of the Year: Selena Gomez,” Billboard, December 9, 2017.
  12. Melody Chiu, “Selena Gomez is taking ‘Great Care’ of herself after Kidney Transplant,” People, September 20, 2017, https://people.com/music/selena-gomez-kidney-transplant-inside-her-recovery/
  13. Tina Smithers Peckham, “Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa Speak Out About the Kidney Transplant Surgery and the ‘Brutal’ Recovery” E News, October 30, 2017, https://www.etonline.com/selena-gomez-and-francia-raisa-speak-out-about-kidney-transplant-surgery-and-brutal-recovery-90084.
  14. Tina Smithers Peckham, “Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa Speak Out About the Kidney Transplant Surgery and the ‘Brutal’ Recovery” E News, October 30, 2017, https://www.etonline.com/selena-gomez-and-francia-raisa-speak-out-about-kidney-transplant-surgery-and-brutal-recovery-90084.
  15. Tina Smithers Peckham, “Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa Speak Out About the Kidney Transplant Surgery and the ‘Brutal’ Recovery” E News, October 30, 2017, https://www.etonline.com/selena-gomez-and-francia-raisa-speak-out-about-kidney-transplant-surgery-and-brutal-recovery-90084.
  16. Alyssa Bailey, “Selena Gomez Finally Announced her Album Release Date,” Elle, November 21, 2019, https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a29870938/selena-gomez-sg2-album-release-date/.
  17. Hugh McIntyre, “Selena Gomez Hits No. 1 for the First Time with New Single ‘Lose You To Love Me,’” Forbes, November 4, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2019/11/04/selena-gomez-hits-no-1-for-the-first-time-with-new-single-lose-you-to-love-me/#74e9b5122273

Recent Comments

77 comments

  • Perla Ramirez

    This is a very moving article on Selena Gomez. Its very touching especially since I grew up watching her star in Wizards of Waverly Place. But its very good for her to have gotten the opportunity to get her kidney from her best friend. And she pushed through and got past her hardship. She also stayed very humble about her situation which I something I look up too.

  • Maria Luevano

    I grew up listening to and watching Selena Gomez, so she has become a great part of my childhood. To this day I still listen to her music and love to watch her act in shows and movies. It was a sad day when I learned Selena had Lupus because it reminds you that these celebrities aren’t superheroes and arent indestructible. They too are human have their own issues that affect their everyday lives. Selena is such a powerful woman and uses her fame and platform for a good cause and has always been a positive influence.

  • Monserrat Garcia

    This is such an interesting read! I remember being a child and idolizing Selena Gomez for her work with Disney and her music career. I had heard about her surgery and history with Lupus but never in such great detail as this article describes. It is very unique to know you have friends like hers that would go through the transplant. It must have been very difficult for her to keep this private due to her stance in the public but I am very glad she is well and healthy now.

  • Julia Aleman

    This is a really interesting article. I remember how much I loved Selena and seeing her on Disney channel when I was younger. I also remember seeing something about her surgery and I was shocked when it all happened. Selena is such an inspiring person because not only did she go through lupus, but she also wanted to use her platform to help get the word out about this. It’s also really heartwarming to hear about her lifelong friend donating her kidney to save Selena’s life.

  • Eva Lizarraga

    I remember hearing about Selena’s medical issues, but wasn’t sure if it was just rumors or fake news. This article allowed me to not only understand what Lupus is, but also the effects it has on people’s lives. I was moved when I read about her friend’s kidney donation, and can only imagine the kind of bond that the two must share now. I also have high respect for the way Selena has handled herself, from keeping her personal life on the down-low to using her experience as a platform for others.

  • Nathaniel Tran

    I never knew that Selena Gomez had to take a break from acting due to her having Lupus. I love that also in the article it mentions Selena’s friend and roommate were there for her when she needed her most. It’s so wholesome how it was her best friend that was able to save her from lupus. I am also glad I was able to learn about lupus from this article as it gave a great description.

  • Vivian Urrutia


    Selena Gomez has been a huge part of my childhood and I was and still am a fan of her acting and music. I find so unbelievable how famous people manage to hide their real issues happening behind the scenes. Her lupus was a massive part of her life, but throughout the way she always had her loyal friends behind her, shockingly, one of them saved her life by donating a kidney. Selena Gomez overpassed her disease and created it in a good thing saying she sees life in her body. Amazing analysis of Selena and her obstacles.

  • Jacqueline Guardia

    I’m not a fan of Selena Gomez but reading and knowing what she has been through is important. Public figures now are not treated like humans. I grew up watching her shows and listening to her music. When I heard that she was diagnosed with Lupus I was shocked. I had never heard of that disease before, however, after I read about what Lupus does to your body I started researching more and have a little bit of knowledge about it. I think that is important to know. Great article.

  • Juan Asfura

    I first knew how Selena Gomez was after watching a show she starred at in Disney Chanel called The Wizards of Waverley Place. I was just a little elementary school kid who would watch the show before going to school everyday. Now that at college I learned that she had lupus and it is incredible how she managed to be such a good actor and manage her disease. This is a really interesting and whole-some story since her friend even donated a kidney to her. This story should be more famous and we should learn from her a lot of things.

  • Maria Ferrer

    It is incredible how we know so little about what happens behind the spotlight of any artists. I have known Selena Gomez for some time now but it was surprising to hear that she was diagnosed with Lupus. Dealing with something like this must be really hard, let alone having to live with it being in the public eye. What it is even more inspiring to see about her, is that she is using her platform to create awareness of this disease and how she is helping people overcome these difficult times. All this makes me realize how strong she is as a person, and it is something to admire.

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