Kesha opened up about her recent health struggles.
“I almost died in January,” Kesha told Self in a new interview, explaining that, near the end of last year, she froze her eggs — only to find a few weeks later that she was so physically weak, she couldn’t walk. Doctors then found that she had an uncommon but serious complication from the procedure, which she did not name.
“I finally feel recovered, but it took a couple months,” she continued, saying that she spent nine days in a hospital in Miami. “It was horrifying.”
Later, the profile notes Kesha’s hesitancy to talk about what happened, as she doesn’t want to be seen as prescriptive about reproduction — she simply wanted more time to consider her own thoughts on having a child right now. “I just was taking my reproductive health into my own hands,” she said. “And I stand by everyone doing that and [honoring] your body.”
Part of Kesha’s complications came from her weakened immune system. In 2022, Kesha was diagnosed with CVID (common variable immunodeficiency) — an antibody deficiency that leads to recurrent and often severe infections as the immune system can’t defend against bacteria and viruses. Kesha’s CVID is further associated with autoimmune issues.
“I just never wanted to be the whiny, privileged girl,” she said, explaining why she had kept her diagnosis private thus far. “Also, my image had been that of going out and having fun.”
Kesha first sought medical care after feeling fatigued and run-down, which she thought had come from overextending herself. “When you’re lucky enough to have a song that catches on, you’re just trying to keep up. I had a really hard time saying no to interviews or photo shoots because I didn’t want to let my one chance fall away by not being able to fulfill every request. It led to severe exhaustion physically and mentally.”
“I learned after my diagnosis that sleep is the most important thing. I took that for granted for, god, about 29, 30 years. I feel like I’m just playing catch-up on my teens and 20s still. But I try to get as much sleep as possible, and I have to protect that fiercely,” she said.
You can read the full interview here.
