Jersey Shore: Family Vacation star Jenni “JWoww” Farley is opening up about a frightening health scare that led to her being hospitalized.
“Not the ‘first day of school’ picture I wanted to post… but then again, I guess we wouldn’t have one,” Farley, 41, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, September 3, alongside a photo of herself wearing a hospital gown while posing with daughter Meilani, 12, and son Greyson, 10, whom she shares with ex-husband Roger Mathews.
She continued, “This past week has probably been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I’ve spent every day fighting to get healthy enough to get home to my family while dealing with a horrible kidney infection and appendicitis.”
Farley then admitted that she had felt something was off in her body for “months” before her hospitalization.
“I want to say it came out of nowhere, but the truth is, I haven’t felt like myself for months,” she explained. “Weight loss, exhaustion, constantly feeling off … and then last Friday, my body finally said, ‘We aren’t making it like this anymore.’”
The reality star added, “I cannot say enough about the incredible hospital team taking care of me and doing everything they could to get me healthy enough to have this moment with my kids. Because no matter where I was, I was going to do my daughter’s hair for her first day. 😂❤️.” (The post also included a video of Farley straightening her daughter’s hair in her hospital room’s bathroom.)
Farley said her husband, Zack Carpinello — whom she married in a second ceremony in Italy in August after secretly tying the knot in June — played a role in making sure her kids were able to visit her at the hospital before school.
“@zackclayton made sure the kids were here extra early this morning so we could all be together,” she wrote. “We didn’t get the picture in front of the house. We didn’t get the normal first-day morning. We got hospital bracelets, a hospital room, backpacks, hair supplies and a memory I don’t think any of us will ever forget.”
Farley said the experience made her “think about something much bigger.”
“What I am going through is temporary,” she shared. “For some families, something happened this summer that may have changed their lives forever. Some kids are walking into school carrying grief, illness at home, divorce, financial struggles, a new diagnosis or something none of us can see. And some parents may be scrolling today wishing they could have taken that perfect ‘first day’ picture.”
Farley concluded, “So as our kids go back to school, please remind them to be kind. Notice the kid sitting alone. Don’t judge someone by what they’re wearing, what they have, or what they didn’t post. You never know what someone is carrying behind closed doors. Our first-day picture looks a little different this year, but we have one. And right now, I’m incredibly grateful for that. ❤️Here’s to a new school year. May our kids be safe, successful, and above all else … kind.”
