Most people did not know that American musician Avril Lavigne has been struggling silently with Lyme disease since December last year. But on Monday morning (June 29), the Hello Kitty singer spoke up about the disease on Good Morning America, telling people who suffer from it, “There is hope.”
Lavigne said she was bed-ridden in Los Angeles since October 2014 — “literally the worst time of my life.” When she consulted doctors about why she was so tired all the time, many of them didn’t have an answer for her, calling it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. But Avril knew it was something more two months into her symptoms.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to humans by tick bites. People who have it experience fever, headaches, fatigue, and rashes, but if it goes untreated (by antibiotics), it can spread to the heart and nervous system.
And while Avril has been mostly quiet in the past few months, with the exception of a new video for her song Give You What You Like, she’s been hearing all her fans, who’ve reached out to her in support. “I sat in my bed and I watched all the videos, and I did the same thing I’m doing now, I cried through the whole thing,” she said. “I felt really loved. It sounds silly saying it but I truly did feel my fans.”
Lavigne’s Lyme disease diagnosis came just months after former Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna was forced to cancel shows by her band Julie Ruin to go into treatment for a relapse of the disease. And although there is little awareness about the illness, Avril said, “Lyme disease does exist. And you can get better.” She said she’s halfway through her treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
“I think for me it’s like a second chance at life,” she said “I want to go out there and truly do what I love. I’m excited for life after this.”