Selena Gomez’s Mom Mandy Teefey Reveals How Covid-19 Affected Her Health Struggles

Selena Gomez’s mother, Mandy Teefey, opened up about her double pneumonia and how Covid-19 may have aggravated her health struggle this year.

"I got pneumonia in February in New York, and I guess the doctor didn't really clear it up as much as it needed to be," she told People in an interview published Wednesday.

"I had gotten IV vitamin therapy, which I think helped me get through the times I did,” she added.

Teefey, 45, first revealed about her double pneumonia in November and said it got worse because of Covid-19.

"Then a week before I was going to get my first Covid shot, I got Covid," she shared. "I was at home the whole time. When my fever broke, my oxygen went to 69, and I was rushed to the hospital. The first hospital was pretty badgering, like, 'Why didn't you get your shot?' I'm like, 'I literally can't breathe right now. Can we talk about this later? I will explain why.'"

Teefey says she was later transferred to Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, where they gave her breathing exercises to follow, aside from steroids and antibiotics.

"They said that had my body not responded as quickly as it did, I had two days [to live]," she continued. "They said, 'We don't know how you've been breathing this whole time.' I had, like, half a lung. I made it through Covid and didn't lose my taste or smell or anything, but it beat up my lungs pretty hardcore."

Despite the health scare, Teefey said there was a silver lining to the experience as she was able to come up with the name Wondermind for her new company, during her time in the hospital.

"It was definitely an experience, and it wasn't scary until I got home. When I got home, I was like, 'Wow, I may not have ever come back here.' I was a lucky one,” she said.

Teefey is celebrating the opening of her daughter’s new mental health company, Wondermind – a platform aiming to smash negative stigma attached to mental health and dispense information regarding mental well-being.

Gomez, Teefey and the founder of Gen-Z newsletter, Newsette, Daniella Pierson teamed up and launched Wondermind last month to build a community of people seeking a safe space to discuss mental health and the issues they face due . Teefey serves as head of the media company's creative content.

The website will soon roll out podcasts, interviews, daily articles and other tools for “mental fitness.” This may also include books, essays, and potential TV series and films, according to Entrepreneur.