A Hollywood icon recently revealed that he's been battling a "deadly mystery illness" for years. Joe Manganiello is opening up about his health struggles in his new memoir, Bloodlines.
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"Some of you may know, yesterday PEOPLE.com announced that I had written a new memoir, and I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about that a little bit," Manganiello said on social media. The actor says that he has kept things private for years.
"For the better part of the past decade — most people don't know this — but I suffered in silence, battling a deadly mystery illness, and other than a very small circle of family and friends, I hid it from the rest of the world, and until recently hadn't really shared what I'd gone through," he said.
For years, the Hollywood icon says that he had tried treatment after treatment. But he said that things haven't progressed to a cure.
Hollywood Icon Talks Illness
"I spent months and months heavily medicated while dealing with excruciating bouts of chronic pain," Manganiello said.
According to the Hollywood actor, he has had "a cascade of autoimmune-related illnesses." He suffered illnesses in his eyes, lungs, digestive system, and skin. According to Manganiello, he had to have one organ removed to save his life.
"It documents my 10-year search for answers and expands the globe, and also backwards in time as I expand on my understanding of my family's history and make some absolutely unbelievable discoveries," he said.
It's been a very difficult time for the actor.
"It was the most brutally difficult time of my life, one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but also my greatest adventure," he said. "I hope that what I went through on this journey can give readers hope that answers and healing may lie for them on the other side of whatever they are fighting through. The process of writing this book gave me the gift of perspective that helped me to see that my suffering was a cocoon from which I would emerge forever changed."
But the Hollywood icon says that he wants to share his story with others.
"If you're out there and you're suffering, then there's hope, and hopefully you'll get something out of it," he concluded in the video.
