Aretha Franklin Breaks Her Silence After Surgery, Says “Problem Resolved”

Aretha Franklin is opening up a bit about her health after her mystery surgery last month.

By Jorge Rivas Jan 07, 2011

Aretha Franklin, who underwent surgery for an undisclosed health issue last month, says she’s "feeling great and coming along."

Late last year an ABC affiliate in Detroit reported Franklin was battling pancreatic cancer, a disease that is particularly prevalent among African Americans. "I am not going to even deal with that," Franklin told JET. "I don’t have to talk about my health with anybody other than my doctors. The problem has been resolved."

"I am not one to do a lot of talking about my personal health or business. Not too much, not too much. There are a lot of people who will talk about anything, as long as there is somebody listening. But I am not one of those people. That’s not Aretha," Franklin explained to JET.

She recalled having "a very hard pain" in her side during a concert in Toronto 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."

Franklin ended the interview by thanking her fans for their concern and asking that  they continue to respect her privacy as she recovers. But she did offer up a bit of advice after her experience:

"If there is anything happening with you that is uncommon and something that you know should not be happening, go to your doctor. Be determined to find out what is going on."