Toni Braxton (Photo credit: Bang Media)
The eldest and most accomplished of the famed Braxton singing siblings informed the public that she nearly lost her life before undergoing heart surgery.
Toni Braxton, 55, the legendary sultry singer who has belted out a litany of classics including “Un-break My Heart,” “Another Sad Love Song” and “Breathe Again,” told the “Today” show that her systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosis nearly led to a heart attack.
“It (was) put in at a really, really scary moment,” the singer shared, saying the whole episode was horrifying and “surreal.”
“I just thought it was sadness,” Braxton said on the show. “It turned out to be much more serious, and I just dismissed the signs … and a lot of people tend to do that.”
At first, the eldest Braxton sibling said she missed a doctor’s appointment after experiencing chest pains. But when she finally booked an examination, the physician told Braxton she needed a stint put in with all deliberate speed.
“A couple days after they did the procedure they told me that it was touch and go,” she told hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. The singer went on to say that if she had skipped that doctor’s appointment she would have had a widowmaker heart attack, which occurs when the biggest artery in your heart is blocked.
“I would have had a massive heart attack and would not have survived,” she said.
Braxton has had to deal with maladies in the past. In 2008, she was diagnosed with lupus, though she did not reveal the ailment until 2010 because of shame and fear she would be ostracized.
Soon, however, Braxton learned she made the right decision to divulge her disease
“It’s so empowering when people come up to me and say, ‘I have lupus, too, and you’ve helped me so much,’” she says.
Lupus does place limitations on her performance schedule, however.
“It gets challenging for me because I know I’ll never be able to do a show seven days again,” she said on the popular program. Nevertheless, Braxton is “proud of herself” and said the “tough self-love” she imposed on herself early in her career has helped her navigate life’s obstacles.
