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In an Instagram posting, the 25 year-old singer
showed a photo of herself in the hospital lying next to her best
friend, actress Francia Raisa, who she said made the "ultimate
gift" of donating her kidney.
The "Good For You" singer explained in the post that she had
been lying low this summer because "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."
The singer, who has the biggest following on Instagram with 126
million followers, also posted images of a post-operative scar
on her lower abdomen.
Gomez, who came to fame in Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly
Place" and dated singer Justin Bieber for several years,
revealed in 2015 that she had been diagnosed with the
auto-immune disease lupus and undergone chemotherapy to treat
it.
The announcement followed two career breaks and a canceled tour.
In 2016 she again canceled part of her tour, saying she was
suffering from anxiety and panic attacks caused by lupus.
The cause of lupus is not clear and symptoms can include swollen
joints, fatigue, rashes and fever.
"Lupus continues to be very misunderstood but progress is being
made," Gomez said in Thursday's Instagram post
She thanked Raisa, best known for TV series "The Secret Life of
the American Teenager," for donating the kidney.
"There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my
beautiful friend," she said. "She gave me the ultimate gift and
sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed.
I love you so much sis."
(Reporting by Mark Hanrahan in London and Jill Serjeant in Los
Angeles; Editing by Catherine Evans and Meredith Mazzilli)
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