- Toni Braxton
- December 10, 2012
- By: Susan Alexander
Singer Toni Braxton was hospitalized last weekend with a lupus flare. Braxton had announced that she had lupus in 2010 while accepting a Woman in Achievement award at the 8th Annual Lupus L A Bag Ladies Luncheon.
Braxton tweeted on Friday, “Hey guys, I’m in the hospital for health issues related to Lupus & blood clots.” She assured her fans, “I will be home soon…Thanks for all the love & support!”
Braxton recently told the TV program, "20/20," that her uncle died of complications of lupus when he was only 19 years old. Her brother also suffers from the illness.
The illness helped push her into bankruptcy. Braxton had financed a Las Vegas revue show. She had just renewed all of her contracts with vendors when she was diagnosed with microvascular angina, a narrowing of the blood vessels in the heart, and later with lupus. Whether the lupus caused the blood-vessel problem, is not known. Lupus, however, can cause damage to organs, as well as to joints, blood vessels and skin.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease which is the result of an unbalanced immune system that can become destructive to any major organ or tissue in the body. Its health consequences may include heart attacks, strokes, seizures, miscarriages, or organ failure.
Braxton said, "The doctors told me I would never be able to perform. They said, one or two songs here and there, occasionally."
This diagnosis gutted her Vegas review and caused her bankruptcy. She is now making a "reality" TV show, "Braxton Family Values," on WE-TV with her sisters.
Braxton first hit it big in 1996 with her chart-topping song, "Un-Break My Heart." Her deep, brooding vocal became the anthem of the brokenhearted. Her music has garnered her a host of Grammy Awards over the years.
After a lull in her career, she recorded another monster hit in 2000 with "He Wasn't Man Enough." This summer, her single, "I Heart You," topped the dance charts.
To support her two sons, one of whom has autism, Braxton has joined the private performance circuit, singing for audiences overseas.
She has also branched out into acting with a starring role in Lifetime's, "Twist Of Faith." Her performance as a singer in a church choir will debut on February 9, 2013.
She says of her acting, "I think it's important for an artist to graduate and try new things even if it doesn't work. But, of course, I'm Toni Braxton, the entertainer, the singer. That's my love.
Link@
http://www.examiner.com/article/toni-braxton-hospital-with-lupus-flare