Lauren Jenkins.Photo: Zachary Sinclair Photo
Country musicianLauren Jenkinsknew she couldn’t ignore the pain any longer. What shedidn’tknow if how she could possibly fit a total hip replacement into her already hectic life.
“When you’re a touring artist, you’re just grinding all the time,” says Jenkins, 30, during a recent interview with PEOPLE. “I just had no idea that at the very same time, I was literally grinding my right hip down to the bone. There were times when I could feel my hip locking up and grinding, but there wasalwaysthenextshow, you know?”
She grows quiet. “I just thought that to be human means that you live with pain.”
Lauren Jenkins.Zachary Sinclair Photo
But earlier this year, as the country experienced yet another COVID-19 surge, the artist who broke onto the music scene in 2019 with her critically acclaimed albumNo Saintmade the crucial decision to finally go under the knife.
“Without the pandemic, I don’t know if I would haveeverfocused on my health like I should have been doing all along,” the Texas-born, Carolina-raised artist says. “I just muscled my way through it for a very long time.”
Jenkins says that if she had seen a doctor sooner, she believes she could have possibly avoided the surgery altogether.
“There are people out there that are not really listening to their bodies,” Jenkins says. “Chronic pain is no joke. It takes a huge toll.”
Now, six weeks following a total hip replacement, Jenkins says that she is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, recovery has been slow and has held its share of challenges.
“I’m getting stronger every day,” says Jenkins, who will return to the doctor in roughly eight weeks for yet another follow-up appointment to ensure everything is healing as planned. “I’m learning to walk again, and I just got cleared to drive and fly which means I can start touring again as soon as my strength is back.”
“It’s an ugly business,” states Jenkins with a sigh. “In the course of 24 hours, my whole world was rocked.”
Nevertheless, Jenkins persevered, immediately heading into the studio to create new music with a revamped team of people with her best interests at heart.
“For the first time, I don’t have old white men telling me who I should be or what my art should sound like,” explains Jenkins, who plans to release a new EP later this year. “I’ve been trying to shake off some of those voices for the last 10 years and really follow my own voice, and that’s been a bit of a journey. I’m just scratching the surface of what I’m capable of. But I can honestly say that making this new music has been the most beautiful, wonderful experience that I’ve ever had in the music business.”
Adding to this beauty is the beauty she is also experiencing in her personal life, as Jenkins is set to marry fiancé Patrick Davis this October.
source: people.com
