Carrie Ann Inaba has shared that she’s on the road to recovery after experiencing a “small medical emergency” on a flight to New York City.
The Dancing with the Stars judge, 58, posted a video Thursday on Instagram to detail how she suddenly felt sick during her flight. She received help from the in-flight crew, before being met by paramedics at the gate when the plane landed, and transported to the emergency room via ambulance.
Inaba gave an update on her health Friday, telling USA Today that she was on the mend. She further recalled how she felt “very unwell” on the flight.
“I was dizzy, nauseous, very warm and my arms started feeling numb,” she said in a statement to the publication. “I received some assistance on the plane from the flight crew and a doctor onboard, which I am very thankful for, and went to the hospital upon landing, as well as received fluids.”
She noted that the incident happened while traveling from Los Angeles to New York with her pharmaceutical company, Novartis, to participate in a campaign to raise awareness for Sjögren’s disease, an autoimmune disorder she has. Inaba hasn’t disclosed the cause of her medical issue, but did say it was unrelated to her Sjögren’s.
“I’m resting up and looking forward to getting back into my advocacy work soon,” she added. “I’m so grateful to the people who took care of me and helped me through such a scary experience.”
In her initial Instagram post, featuring a video Inaba took in the ambulance, she said that she initially thought her symptoms were due to food poisoning. However, she realized that wasn’t the case when her arms went numb.
“Normally I handle most of my health things on my own. Like many people who live with autoimmune disease, I travel with a health tool kit and am prepared for the worst, but this scared me. And while I was locked in the restroom, we were also experiencing turbulence and the flight attendants had been asked to sit in their seats as well,” she wrote.
“I didn’t want to have anyone else put themselves at risk… but when my arms went numb, it was time to ask for help.”
In the comments of her post, she expressed gratitude for the flight attendants on the plane as well as the paramedics who treated her with care and respect during the “scary moment” when her blood pressure dropped. She said she was hooked up to multiple IV Fluids that helped her recover.
“I’m always thankful for the moments that scare or challenge me especially with my health,” she wrote in a separate comment. “They remind me that while I often face my health challenges alone, I am not alone. None of us are.”
Inaba has been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune disorders over the years, including Sjögren’s syndrome, lupus, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. She wrote in a 2021 post on her wellness platform, The Carrie Ann Conversations, that she has “the markers for antiphospholipid syndrome, which can lead to blood clots.”