Days before her death at the age of 80, Dolly Parton shared an update about her health.
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Speaking exclusively with People on August 21, she said that she was having some “hard times with my health.”
The update came shortly after a canceled appearance at Dollywood. She was supposed to appear on August 14 to help launch NightFlight Expedition, a new ride, but instead appeared via video.
“I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I’ve had a few little health issues and sometimes I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated. And I’m dehydrated,” she said in the message. “So my Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.’ So I guess if your doctor tells you, ‘You ain’t traveling this week,’ you ain’t traveling this week. I like to keep all of you in the loop, like I said I would, on everything.”
In May, Parton shared a health update via her official Instagram page after canceling more concerts
“First, it’s concerning my health — and I have some good news and a little bad news,” she explained. “But the good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day. Now, the bad news is that it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say.”
She rightfully told her fans she couldn’t be “dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars and such on five-inch heels.”
“And you know I’m gonna be wearing them. Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair and my…big uh personality. That would make anybody swimmy-headed,” she added.
She also shared that she had been dealing with kidney stones.
“Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tenn. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple of years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding their strength.”
And at the March opening of Dollywood, she also made comments about her health while delivering the keynote speech.
“I’ve not been touring, as you know,” she said. “I’ve had a few little health issues, and we’re taking good care of them.”
“I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on,” she added. “I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But all is good. It didn’t slow me down.”