Toni Braxton Reveals She Had ‘Traumatic’ Emergency Heart Surgery

Toni Braxton revealed she experienced a “traumatic” health scare.

The star sat down with People magazine, sharing details on her life as of late, dealing with systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus’ most common form. The 55-year-old disclosed that she underwent an invasive emergency heart procedure last September after 80 percent of her main heart artery was blocked. 

The songwriter says she has been hospitalized “more times than I care to admit,” and understands the importance of frequent check health checkups but admitted she wasn’t taking her routine seriously. 

“I kept putting it off thinking, ‘Oh, I’m fine. I’ll be okay.’ But my doctor was persistent, and I went to get tested in the last week of September. I did a specialized test, and they looked at my heart and saw some abnormalities,” the Braxton Family Values star said. “I found out that I needed a coronary stent. My left main coronary artery was 80 percent blocked. The doctors told me I could’ve had a massive heart attack, I would not have survived.”

She continued, “It was a traumatic moment for me. I was in shock. I remember that day because my chest was aching often, just hurting. And I thought I was just sad because, unfortunately, my sister [Traci Braxton] had just passed, and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m really aching in my heart for my sister.’ And come to find out, of course, I was sad about my sister, but I also had underlying health issues. It was my body talking to me, telling me something’s not quite right.”

A couple days after her screening, Toni Braxton had to undergo emergency heart surgery. She was able to recover after several days in the hospital. The singer was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus in 2008.