In the Human Factor, CNN profiles survivors who have overcome the odds. Confronting a life obstacle – injury, illness or other hardship – they tapped their inner strength and found resilience they didn’t know they possessed.

T-boz, 41, lead singer of the award winning female hip/hop group TLC, shares her story about her struggles with sickle-cell anemia and the brain tumor she had removed a few years ago.

Most people know me as an actress, singer or member of the ’90s musical group TLC.?What many people don?t know is that through all of this, I quietly battled sickle-cell disease. Since the age of 7, I have been in and out of hospitals. Then, in 2006, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Many physicians refused to remove the tumor due to my sickle-cell related complications.

These experiences have taught me, and I want everyone to know, that you can be a survivor, even when it looks like you?re against all odds. When I went to the first doctor to talk about my brain tumor, he wasn?t getting into my livelihood, my life.

The decisions about how to treat the tumor were not what would happen to me and my quality of life. You need to learn about yourself, research and take notes. Know the questions to ask. When you?re stressed and going through something, it can be hard to do, so it?s important to learn what you can and prepare.

In case you missed it, check out T-Boz’s CNN interview below: Continue Reading…