My friend was on dialysis for six years before he got a new kidney. I was on dialysis for eight months. I’m almost not even the typical person who has kidney failure.
I was pretty bad. When I first was diagnosed with kidney failure, my function – the function of my kidney was less than 8 percent.
I already had high blood pressure. I have hypertension. And I think the chemo was just too much for my kidneys. And they went into failure. And that was September 12th of 2008. And the doctor rushed me right to the hospital.
There’s inevitably something missing when you grow up in this kind of an environment when your parents travel a lot. When your father is famous, you are looked at and expected of. There are standards you need to meet.
The medication I had to take was a form of chemotherapy. You feel like death every day. No appetite. No energy. But the treatment worked. It cured my liver 80 per cent but compromised my kidneys.
I have been on dialysis in Istanbul, Milan, Indonesia, Manila, London. It’s – it’s amazing.
I’m just really, really thankful. I’m thankful to the doctors; I’m thankful to the family that donated the kidney.
It’s important to wallow and grieve when you have a health issue. I don’t think you really get the best stuff out of life until you’ve had the worst stuff.
God surrounded me with people of faith, people of strong faith, people of power, spiritual power, and I saw little miracles happen in their lives. By it happening in their lives, I started believing it could happen to me.
I’m a born-again Christian. I was raised Episcopalian – I’ve always been of a Christian faith, but I became much more active in it when I married my first husband, Marvin. I changed from Episcopalian to Baptist.
I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage.
I still love recording and still love the stage, but like my dad, I have the most fun when I am in front of that glorious orchestra or that kick-butt big band.