Selena Gomez’s Mom Felt ‘Helpless’ and ‘Scared’ Before Surgery

After Selena Gomez’s surprising announcement last week that she spent her summer recovering from a kidney transplant, her mom is joining the conversation.

Mandy Teefey credits “all the love, prayers and God” for helping their family get through the ordeal.

Teefey shared her daughter’s hospital photo with friend and kidney donor Francia Raisa on her Instagram page. She called it “one of the most breathtaking images that will live with me forever.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZKdtA3BuB5/?taken-by=kicked2thecurbproductions

“For all those moments of not knowing if we were going up or going down, I can always come back to this picture and know we can always make it back up,” she continued. “As a mother I was helpless, scared and all I could do was pray for both of them, Francia’s beautiful family. I am pretty sure I am banned from that hospital. Mama Bear was in high gear. Selena gained a kidney, I was able to keep my little girl, but I also gained another daughter… thank you to everyone who was there for Sel, Francia and our families. We survived from all the love, prayers and God.”

Teefey shared her gratitude and relief that the transplant turned out just fine.

“Selena gained a kidney, I was able to keep my little girl, but I also gained another daughter,” she wrote. “[T]hank you to everyone who was there for Sel, Francia and our families.”

It’s just the latest show of Insta love between the mother and daughter. In January, Gomez shared a tribute to her mom with a photo of the two of them. She wrote, “She teaches me most about life and I couldn’t be luckier to have a partner like her in life.”

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Gomez previously revealed she has lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million people in the U.S., according to the Lupus Research Alliance. Gomez said she needed the kidney transplant because of her lupus. She then publicly thanked her friend Raisa for serving as her donor.

“She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed,” Gomez wrote. More than nine million people showed their support with a “like.”

And Gomez is putting this increased attention to good use. Since the news first came out about her lupus diagnosis, the Lupus Research Alliance credits the singer for financial contributions and for raising awareness in a big way.

“Together her appeals have raised almost $500,000 for research funded by the Lupus Research Alliance,” Lupus Research Alliance president and CEO Kenneth Farber told E! News.