Aug. 13 (UPI) — Amy Grant opens up about having heart surgery and what she wants others to know.
MORE HERE: https://t.co/20IpU8wFvP pic.twitter.com/8NEhJccCnf— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 13, 2020
Amy Grant is encouraging people to practice self-care in the wake of her open-heart surgery.
The 59-year-old singer-songwriter discussed her health on Thursday’s episode of Good Morning America after undergoing open-heart surgery for a rare heart condition.
When asked what her message to fans would be, Grant urged people to take care of themselves and have regular health checkups.
“My message would be, take a minute and take care of yourself. You don’t know if something’s wrong unless you make sure it’s right,” the star said.
“Do you know how many women die of stroke and heart disease? It’s like more than all cancers combined,” she added. “If I have got something wrong, anybody could have something wrong.”
Grant also stressed the importance of community.
“We are a community. Even in times of isolation, we still have an impact on each other and we can have an incredible impact for good,” she said.
Grant had open-heart surgery in June to correct partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR), a rare heart condition she’s had since birth. On GMA, Grant discussed how she had an irregular heartbeat for the past decade and learned she had PAPVR during a checkup this year.
“I had an irregular heartbeat for the last 10 years, and it exhibited every day,” the singer said. “It bothered me a little bit and then I’ve had a harder time singing in the last five years… everything kind of tightening up as I was trying to sing.”
“They were doing an ultrasound of my heart and the doctor came in. He said [to my husband], ‘Vince, this is the kind of situation where Amy would be fine, fine, fine and then one day it would be catastrophic,'” she recalled.
Grant previously described her recovery from the surgery as “miraculous.” She shared photos on Instagram in June of her scar from the surgery.
Grant released her 15th studio album, How Mercy Looks from Here, in 2013, and said on GMA that she plans to create new music.