Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin may be in denial when she says her recent medical problems have been resolved.
Frankln, who was rumored to be diagnosed with deadly pancreatic cancer, told JET magazine in an exclusive interview, “I don’t have to talk about my health with anybody other than my doctors. The problem has been resolved.”
But in further discussing the diagnostic tests that her doctors ordered for her, Franklin, 68, inadvertently gave JET magazine enough hints to guess at her real diagnosis.
The soul icon also encouraged everyone to see their doctors if something doesn’t feel right.
She reveals that she went to a series of doctors who ran tests before they discovered what was wrong. She recalls saying to herself, “ ‘I know there is a problem, but these tests are showing nothing.’”
She recalls having “a very hard pain in my side” during a concert in Toronto, Canada last year. “I had a colonoscopy and it showed nothing was wrong. I associated the pain in my side with the colonoscopy that I had within a day or two before. I got up at 2 o’clock in the morning and called the doctor who did the colonoscopy and told him what was happening. He said, ‘Miss Franklin, whatever it is, it is not from the colonoscopy. You need to come home and have a CAT-scan.’ Thank God he said that because that unfolded everything, what the problem was and everything.”
She reiterates why she talked to JET, “I know my fans are concerned. Let them know I am feeling great and coming along.”
She sends out a message of gratitude for her fans worldwide. “I want to thank my fans and friends and supporters who have prayed for me and sent me beautiful cards and flowers. Please continue to respect my privacy as I continue to recover.”
