Hey! News’ Keltie Knight gets candid about her health issues — and the big step she’s taking to combat them.
In both an Instagram video and an essay for the website E!, Knight, 42, opened up about her battle with a rare blood disorder called microcytic anemia.
“I suffered in silence behind the scenes for so long,” she said in an Instagram video. “…Basically, it doesn’t matter what you do to me, nothing — diet, IVs, hormones, anything — my blood cells are just less and less, so I feel awful all the time.”
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, microcytic anemia occurs when a person’s red blood cells do not have enough hemoglobin, which helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. It is often seen in people who also suffer from iron deficiency anemia, chronic diseases and lead poisoning. For many people, this results in exhaustion, dizziness and more.
“I have a fatigue that I couldn’t even describe to you,” she continued. “I sleep about 16 hours a day. If I’m not in — on Hey! News, in an elegant dress, I’m in bed.”
The main step she’s taking to stop those symptoms and try to preserve some of her healthy blood, she said, is a hysterectomy.
“I started joking that I didn’t want to leave my house or that I didn’t like people. But the truth is that I love my people. I can’t wait to be out on the dance floor with my friends or at a concert with my husband Chris Knight like we used to do,” she wrote in her essay, referring to her RocNation music director husband.
She wanted to share her decision to have her uterus removed because she wants other women suffering from chronic illness to feel that they can also speak up, instead of being silent about their health challenges and shortcomings.
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“I’m being honest with you because I hope that as women we stop feeling like we have to pretend everything is fine when it’s not,” she wrote. “During my career, I felt like I was such a fluke, that all my dreams were coming true not because I deserved them, but because I tricked everyone into hiring me.”
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“… I felt replaceable, so I never stood up for myself because I knew that if I was sick out there, they would find someone younger, brighter and healthier,” she added. “Living with a chronic illness quietly takes over your entire life. There’s the guilt of not being a good wife or a good friend, and the shame of never getting better leads to deep depression.”
“It’s hard to keep fighting for yourself,” she continued, just before thanking her doctors for standing up for her. “Until now.”
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Wrapping up her essay, Knight (or “your favorite childless wonder,” as she calls herself in her caption) thanked fans for their support and urged readers to stand up for themselves when something goes wrong with their health.
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Source: HIS Education