The courageous Toni Braxton is giving her fans some helpful advice following her life-threatening health scare.
As we previously reported, the 55-year-old singer — who was diagnosed with SLE in 2008 — revealed that she underwent a procedure in September after 80% of the main artery in her heart was blocked.
She told PEOPLE earlier this week, “I kept putting it off thinking, ‘Oh, I’m fine. I’ll be okay.’ But my doctor was persistent and I went to get tested in the last week of September. I did a specialized test and they looked at my heart and saw some abnormalities,” Braxton told the outlet. “I found out that I needed a coronary stent. My left main coronary artery was 80% blocked. The doctors told me I could’ve had a massive heart attack, I would not have survived.”
Braxton had to get emergency surgery and a stent placed — a tube that helps keep the passageway open — that was inserted in her heart. She was hospitalized for a few days as she recovered. While she is still on her healing journey, Braxton is continuing to spread awareness and encourage fans to take their health seriously.
TMZ reporter Seleah Simone recently stop the music icon on Wednesday in New York where she explained that she initially ignored her body while mourning the loss of her beloved sister Tracy Braxton, who died of cancer last year. Braxton told the news site that she took the loss so hard, she let her own medical checkups slip.
During the conversation, Braxton also shared that surgery and recovery does affect her performance and is unable to tour right now but she’s currently working on it with the help of cardiac rehab. “It’s been helping a lot. By the time I go on tour I’ll be ready.” Braxton went on to reveal that “she’s in the studio right now” but taking things very slow.
Ultimately, Braxton says she’s excited to be here “in the world” and “life.”
More On Her Surgery
While speaking with PEOPLE, Braxton went into more detail about “the most scary moment of her life.”
“It was really a scary moment,” the Grammy-winning artist said. “Had I not gotten that test, my life would’ve been different.”
“I look at it like it was a blessing in disguise for me because now, putting off tests? Oh no, I will not put off tests,” Braxton assures with a laugh. “If all I have to do for my lupus and my kidney health is pee in a cup, I can pee in a cup. How many times do you need me to pee? If all I gotta do is get my arm pricked for some blood? Oh yes, I can do that. How many vials do you need?”
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Toni ended off by saying, “There are good days and bad days,” the mom of two explained. “I’m going to be honest, sometimes the bad days get me down. I’m not superwoman. I like to think I am. I like to feel like I’m that boss b— all the time, but I’m also a human. When my body tells me to take it down and relax, I have to listen to it.”