Jessie J has revealed she has been in hospital with an infection, six weeks after she underwent surgery to treat breast cancer.
The 37-year-old musician shared her early-stage cancer diagnosis in April this year and had a mastectomy to remove the disease, followed by breast reconstruction surgery.
However, in an update to her followers on Sunday morning (3 August) she explained she had fallen ill unexpectedly and had spent time hospitalised in the same ward in which she had recovered just weeks earlier.
“How I spent the last 24 hours,” she wrote in a caption, alongside a picture of a cannula inserted into her arm. “Six weeks post surgery and I was back in the same ward I was after my surgery,” she said. “Not expected or planned.”
She explained: “I had and still have symptoms that pointed towards a blood clot on the lung. IT IS NOT A BLOOD CLOT THANK GOD. [But] they ran a lot tests, which ended up showing I have an infection (still trying to figure out what) and a little fluid on my lungs.”
The “Bang Bang” singer, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, said she is still unwell, but has discharged herself from hospital.
“Finding it hard to breathe in, but I discharged myself last night (I hate being in hospital) and will continue the investigation as an outpatient,” she explained.
“I know many people who will have gone through this or similar may or may not agree with me on this or not, and that’s OK. But I know for me, the true hard journey of this whole thing physically was the day I went into surgery.”
Reflecting on the impact of the recovery process, the musician explained how the illness had impacted her personal life, parenting, and career, in a follow-up post.
“The recovering physically is far from quick or easy, and mentally it’s been the most challenging time for me,” she continued.
“Especially as a Mum with a toddler and being unable to be the mother I usually am. And having to change the plans for my career for this year has been frustrating after working so hard to get to the point and excited to do it all. But it’s life. I know that.
“And don’t get me wrong, getting the all clear was an is incredible, but that result didn’t speed up or make the recovery from the surgery any easier physically.”
In her final post she said the emergency had reminded her to “slow down” in future.