Carrie Ann Inaba recovering after emergency surgery
Carrie Ann Inaba is recovering after undergoing emergency surgery to have her appendix removed.
Carrie Ann Inaba is recovering from emergency surgery.
The 'Dancing With the Stars' judge spent four nights in hospital last week after undergoing an appendectomy, and she experienced a "few small complications" while having her appendix removed.
The 55-year-old dance expert had initially ignored her pain so she could stay at home with her animals, but was eventually diagnosed with acute gangrenous appendicitis and needed emergency treatment.
She said in a video shared to Instagram: "I should have come straight to the hospital right when the pain in my abdomen started, after the sudden and violent vomiting that knocked me off my feet.
"I should have gone when I couldn't stand without excruciating pain, but I honestly didn't want to leave my babies, and I'm so accustomed to pain—thought I should let it play out."
Carrie Ann - who suffers from fibromyalgia, lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, scoliosis and spinal stenosis - warned her fans that appendicitis attacks can "happen suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere" and admitted she "was wrong" not to seek immediate help.
She added: "And when you are in that much pain, the last thing you want to do is go anywhere.
"And when you have autoimmune disease, you are often having strange health occurrences that no one can explain or help you with so sometimes, you try to wait it out, like I did. I was wrong."
The TV star acknowledged she's been lucky to have received treatment, though she faces a recovery period of around four to six weeks.
She said: "While it's been quite a painful experience, I also know it's a gift to even feel this pain.
"I realise after speaking with my doctor that it could have been much worse."
Carrie Ann revealed last October she had been working with her medical team to find the right treatment plans and viewed her health issues as a "gift" because they have made her more aware of her body.
She told Health Digest: "One of the biggest gifts of having autoimmune conditions is that you become much more aware of how fragile your health can be.
"With autoimmune conditions, there's so little that they know about it that there's so much space to grow and learn and be your own best advocate."
