Nick Cannon Health Scare: Autoimmune Disease "Like a Lupus Type of Thing"

Mariah Carey's hubby talks about the autoimmune disease that put him in the hospital earlier this year, says he's "blessed to be alive"

By Gina Serpe Mar 02, 2012 3:11 PMTags
Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, TwitterTwitter

Nick Cannon has been admirably on the mend since his double health scare and hospitalization earlier this year, but just because he's learned to pull back doesn't mean his well-being isn't still on the forefront of his mind.

Mariah Carey's hubby has spoken out in the wake of his headline-grabbing troubles and revealed that his kidney, blood clots and heart woes are actually the result of a "lupus-type" autoimmune disorder.

The entertainer told People that his kidney disease was the result of an "autoimmune disease that [doctors] found in my system" and that the resulting blood clots were a direct result of that disease.

"They kind of say [my] autoimmune [disease] is—like a lupus type of thing, but no one else in my family has it."

Meanwhile, out of all Cannon endured, the 31-year-old said that it was his second hospitalization that was the most worrying.

"The blood clot thing was probably the scariest because...I've known people who have passed away from that. I thought I was getting better and then that happened, so that kind of came out of nowhere."

As for the kidney problems he was first hospitalized with, which resulted in his abruptly stepping down from his daily morning radio show duties last month, Cannon told the magazine that the condition is "something I'm going to be living with all my life."

And while he's soldiering through it as best he can, treating himself right and aiming for at least six hours of sleep per night, Cannon said that for now, it's all under control.

"It's a lot of stuff, but it's all in order now," he said. "I feel blessed to be alive."