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Carrie Ann Inaba is recovering after experiencing a "scary" medical emergency on a recent flight.
On Thursday (April 16), the Dancing with the Stars judge admitted in a post on Instagram that she had "quite a day" the day before when he had "a small 'medical emergency'" while on a flight to New York City, per E! News. She recalled "very suddenly [feeling] quite ill" and thinking she had food poisoning when she "also suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, got dizzy and my arms went numb."
Inaba, who has the autoimmune disorder Sjogren's disease, explained that while she typically handles most health-related problems on her own, she knew she required assistance from the flight's crew.
"Like many people who live with autoimmune disease, I travel with a health tool kit and am prepared for the worst, but this scared me," she said. To make matters worse, she was locked in the plane's restroom as the flight experienced turbulence and the flight attendants were forced in their seats. "I didn't want to have anyone else put themselves at risk... but when my arms went numb, it was time to ask for help."
In a statement to USA Today, Inaba said she was "very thankful" for the help she got from the crew as well as a doctor onboard and for the paramedics and medical professionals who provided her care both before and after she was taken to the hospital.
"I'm resting up and looking forward to getting back into my advocacy work soon," she said. "I'm so grateful to the people who took care of me and helped me through such a scary experience."