Bijou Phillips faces one of the toughest battles of her life.
In a rare and emotional interview, the 45-year-old model and actress revealed she is “hanging on by a thread” as her urgent search for a kidney donor continues.
Phillips, who is currently undergoing dialysis at UCLA Health’s CORE Kidney program, admitted that she has been waiting for a transplant for over a year.
“I’ve needed a transplant for a year. I’m kind of hanging on by a thread,” she said Us Weekly.
Born with underdeveloped kidneys, Phillips previously received a life-saving transplant from a friend in 2017.
But almost a decade later, the kidney fails.
“The medicine you take when you have a transplant is very toxic to the kidneys,” she explained.
“So when you get a transplant — heart or liver or kidney — within a decade, you’re probably going to need a kidney transplant.”
The Almost famous star acknowledged that her situation was precarious. “I could make it on dialysis for a couple of years, or I could get an infection in my line tomorrow and be gone in a couple of days,” she said.
“I’m really hopeful, [but] it is an extremely urgent situation.”
In addition to her own health, Phillips says her fight is driven by her devotion to her 12-year-old daughter, Fianna, who she shares with ex-husband Danny Masterson.
“Now I’m a single mom and things are different,” she said. “I will be here for her and I will be here for her. The fight is back. I am. I am all she has.”
