Avril Lavigne breaks down in 1st TV interview since Lyme diagnosis
'I will make a 100 per cent recovery,' said the 30-year-old Canadian pop rocker
Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne says trying to find a diagnosis for the crippling symptoms of Lyme disease was the worst time of her life.
In her first televised interview on her ordeal, Lavigne, who revealed her battle with the illness earlier this year, opened up about her struggle to find medical help after she was left bedridden last October.
"I was seeing every specialist and literally the top doctors," she said tearfully in Monday's interview with ABC's Good Morning America.
"They would pull up their computer and be like, 'Chronic fatigue syndrome.' Or, 'Why don't you try to get out of bed, Avril, and just go play the piano?' It's like, 'Are you depressed?'"
The Complicated singer from Napanee, Ont., believes it's how many doctors react to patients with Lyme disease.
"They don't have an answer for them," she said, sobbing, "so they tell them ... you're crazy."
In an earlier interview, Lavigne revealed her symptoms were so bad that she thought she was dying. She also suspects she picked up the illness when she was bitten by a tick in spring 2014.
She told ABC that she suffered nearly two months of night sweats and flu-like symptoms before she suspected she had the inflammatory disease that is transmitted by the critters.
"Then I finally figured out [I had to] find a Lyme specialist."
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The 30-year-old, who is married to a fellow Canadian rock star, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, is doing much better now that she's halfway through her treatment of antibiotics and rest.
"I'm just really grateful to know that I will make a 100 per cent recovery," she said, smiling.
"I'm so excited for life after this."
The next big event on Lavigne's professional calendar is a performance of her latest single, Fly, at the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Special Olympics on July 25 in Los Angeles.