Tameka Foster revealed she went into cardiac arrest while undergoing liposuction in 2009.
“I went in an attempt to have liposuction and I went into a cardiac arrest with the anesthesiologist,” the fashion designer, who was married to Usher from 2007 to 2009, confessed to People Monday.
“The doctor never even entered the room.”
After her health scare, Foster didn’t attempt it again but found other ways to achieve her weight loss goals.
“I still care about looks and vanity, but I plan to do it the natural way. That’s all,” the 53-year-old explained.
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“[The health scare] made me be a little less lazy about getting to my goals, and I just changed my diet and now I do intermittent fasting and things like that,” she said, adding that she has lost 20 pounds with her new health plan.
The “Bold & Bougie” star said she has been “really diligent” about making sure her weight stays in a certain range.
“I mean, I go up and down, but yeah, I do care less about it. I’m not as anal about it,” she said, referring to the numbers on the scale.
In 2009, the stylist traveled to Brazil to get liposuction on her stomach. However, the surgery was immediately canceled when she went into cardiac arrest shortly after being put under general anesthesia.
A rep for Dr. Silvio Sterman, the Sao Paulo plastic surgeon who was going to perform Foster’s operation, told People that year that the designer was “immediately revived and placed in an induced coma.”
“When an attack like this happens, the doctors put the patient to sleep… and make sure that everything is okay and that there has not been any damage,” the spokesperson said at the time. “This is the protocol every time and this is what was done.”
Foster ended up spending a day in the ICU before being transferred to a larger hospital to recover.
The fashion expert and Usher, 45, share two kids: Usher “Cinco” Raymond V, 16, and Naviyd Ely, 15.
Foster was also previously married to Ryan Glover from 2002 to 2007 and they welcomed two kids: Kile, who was tragically killed in a jet ski accident in 2012, and Ryan Glover Jr.
Meanwhile, Usher also shares daughter Sovereign Bo, 3, and son Sire Castrello, 2, with his wife, Jenn Goicoechea.
The R&B singer and Goicoechea, 40, got married in Las Vegas the day before his 2024 Super Bowl Halftime performance earlier this month.
