Selena Gives A Positive Health Update

Selena Gomez gave the public an update on her battle with lupus in Billboard’s Dec. 12 Women In Music issue, and it’s good news. The singer reports that she is in a great place and very healthy, but that the attention is a bit much. “It’s been overwhelming,” the 23-year-old told Billboard, the same magazine in which Gomez bravely revealed her lupus diagnosis in October. In this new interview the pop star makes it even more clear that the reason she revealed her diagnosis isn’t for media attention, but to make a viable difference and use her star power for good.

In the Women In Music issue, Gomez talked about her personal revival as well as her album Revival and using it as an outlet to be vulnerable and learn strength. "It was the first time I was ever really able to trust myself" she said. She also talked about the explosive response to her revelation about her disease:

[It's] been very supportive, which is nice — but it still makes me a little uncomfortable. I waited for the right time to talk about it because I am in a great place and I'm very healthy. I'm not trying to be loud about it: It was time to use my platform to help.

In October, when discussing undergoing chemotherapy treatment, Gomez stressed how difficult it was to see so many vile rumors being spread about her absence from the spotlight, the most persistent being that she had gone to rehab for drug addiction, and, of course, that she was so desperately heartbroken over the Biebz that she had to get away, which seems so trite now. Still, she didn't reveal her diagnosis just to stop the chatter.

She said of the pressure she felt to reveal her diagnosis before she was emotionally ready just to stop the ugly rumors: “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a**holes.' I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”

And confident she is now, albeit a little uncomfortable. But her measured decision to reveal her diagnosis proves that Gomez is in the fight for awareness for the long haul, like many celebrities have done before her.

It’s a humble move for the "Same Old Love" singer to say she’s “not trying to be loud about it,” though she has every right to be. But her journey with her diagnosis is her own, just as everyone’s should be. And luckily, Gomez also gave Billboard a review of her year, ranking it an 8 out of 10. "A lot of ups and downs, but they helped shape who I am," she said. The singer named her latest album Revival, it seems it was the perfect choice; she's stronger than ever, and moving forward to use her celebrity to help find a lupus cure.