Jeannie Mai was "gasping for air" before undergoing emergency surgery.
Jeannie Mai
The 41-year-old TV star was struggling to breathe before having throat surgery after being diagnosed with epiglottitis, which can cause swelling and block airflow to the lungs.
Jeannie - who withdrew from 'Dancing with the Stars' to have surgery - shared: "What I was dancing with was a numb neck because I couldn't feel anything when it was really closing up.
"My throat was 60 percent closed. It was numb, but it was closed. After I went home, I wrote a letter to [my fiance] Jeezy and said, 'Hey, I'm going to go to bed at like 9:30. I feel terrible. Please pray for me because I think that if I don't make it through this I don't know if I'm going to make it through camera blocking.'"
The next day, Jeannie woke up at 5am and could not breathe.
She explains during a new episode of 'Hello, Hunnay': "I was literally like gasping for air.
"I don't want to wake up J so I crawl out of bed, I go and grab some Aspirin to reduce the swelling ... the Aspirin sticks on the back of my tongue and doesn't go down because there's no hole."
Jeannie was advised to visit an ear, nose and throat doctor, after initially being misdiagnosed.
And although she was devastated she had to quit 'Dancing with the Stars', she suggested the decision may have ultimately saved her life.
Jeannie - who was partnered with Brandon Armstrong on the show - said: "I called Brandon and was so upset. Was absolutely enraged in tears, like, 'They're making me do this, I'm so sorry.'"
Tagged in Jeezy