Muni Long shared her experience having a double lung transplant with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, Tuesday, June 23rd.
The singer was forced to leave her role as an opener during the “Boy Is Mine” tour because of her health issues. “I should have never taken that tour,” she said candidly. “But there was so much going on in my life where I had to do it.”
Muni Long, whose real name is Priscilla Renea, has lupus. During the tour, she contracted pneumonia. and found it difficult to get through her final set. “I just barely made it. I was only able to do two songs,” she said.
She announced her departure in a social media post, shocking fans. Her circumstances were not uncommon. Many people have their careers and personal lives interrupted by lupus.
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What Is Lupus?
Lupus is a serious autoimmune disease. It is also referred to as Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). According to BMJ OPEN, those with lupus can experience stints of remission, but “With a fluctuating range of symptoms, SLE imposes significant challenges and limitations on individuals at work.”
There is no cure for lupus. The disease is chronic and can attack anyone. It has “multiorgan manifestations, including pleuropulmonary involvement.”
This means it presents differently in the bodies of different people. It can affect any part of the body. From your scalp to the soles of your feet, lupus can transform what your day-to-day life looks like. For a singer who relies heavily on their lungs, lupus affecting their lungs is particularly difficult to deal with.
How Does Lupus Impact Black People Differently?
Black women are disproportionately impacted by lupus, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology. They have more complications and higher mortality rates.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, “people from Black/African American communities have a higher risk of developing lupus and having complications because of it.
Celebrities who struggle with lupus include Toni Braxton, Nick Cannon, Ava DuVernay, Snoop Dogg’s daughter, Cori Broadus, and Seal.
Renea shared how the disease requires her to be careful about her environment with People. “Please turn the air off when I come in the building. I’m not being a diva, but literally, if I get too cold, I start coughing, and I won’t be able to sing. And then when I get off stage, I have to lay down immediately and wrap up in covers and steam my voice,” she told them in February.
Lupus strikes organs other than the lungs. Singer, actress, and Rare Beauty Founder Selena Gomez underwent a kidney transplant after being diagnosed with lupus. Braxton has opened up about how lupus impacts her body. “My lupus loves my heart. It loves my microvascular system. It loves my blood, so I get blood clots,” she said in 2020, according to The Grio.
How Common Are Double Lung Transplants?
Thanksgiving marked the start of Renea’s journey to get her lungs replaced. The singer woke up in the hospital after visiting family. There, she had a conversation that confirmed her suspicions that her condition was worsening. “I knew for a really long time that something was wrong. Every day, I’m like, spitting in cups and coughing all the time. Trying to take all these medicines to get through the day. With this industry, you’re always in people’s faces. So, I’m taking pictures, and I’m just huffing and puffing like I just ran a marathon,” she said.
Doctors told her she had one week left to live unless she consented to the surgery. “My jaw dropped. Literally, I was like, That’s rude. But they were kind of like, This is not a joke. You need to make a choice. You can either go to hospice, or you can get these lungs,” she continued.
Lung transplants are deeply invasive surgeries. Their outcomes have improved in recent years.
The “Hrs & Hr” singer revealed that she was initially hesitant about the surgery. She worried that it would affect her musical gifts. Her son motivated her to put her health above her creativity.”The ego and the vanity were just like, but what about my voice? What’s going to happen? But then I look at my son, and I think about how much more life I have to live. Quality of life was first. I can’t sing if I’m not here,” she said.
Resources
American Journal of Epidemiology
