Nick Cannon reflects on when lupus ‘almost took’ his life

Nick Cannon is looking back on his decade-long health battle with lupus that “almost took” his life before receiving the diagnosis.

“Ten years ago, I experienced a sudden and mysterious illness that almost took my life,” Cannon opened Monday’s episode of his eponymous talk show.

“At the time, I had no idea it was lupus. And, you know me, I always have to have a camera on,” he added, explaining that he decided to document his health journey from the very beginning.

The “Drumline” star’s video begins on Jan. 3, 2012, and shows footage of him and then-wife Mariah Carey playing in the snow with their twins before he dramatically narrates that he started experiencing excruciating pain and shortness of breath.

In the video, a doctor can be heard telling the former Nickelodeon star that he has “a lot of edema,” which is swelling caused by fluid trapped in the body’s tissues. Doctors then told Cannon, now 41, that they discovered two clots in his lungs.

“It’s the last place you wanna be, man,” he said. “Doctors telling you you could die.”

Cannon’s biographical video ends with him explaining that he overhauled his lifestyle to mitigate symptoms of the autoimmune disease.

“God’s plans are always bigger than our problems, so, what was once an issue, I can now say, ‘Look what we went through,’” Cannon said. “It was hard. It was a struggle, but we made it through.”

After being hospitalized in February 2012 with blood clots, Cannon told People he was “blessed” to be alive.

“[Lupus] is something I’m going to be living with all my life,” Cannon explained at the time. “I feel blessed to be alive. If it wasn’t discovered, I don’t know.”