Olympic Gymnast Suni Lee Gained 45 Lbs. Due to Kidney Illness: 'My Eyes Were Swollen Shut'

"It was just so scary," Lee said

Suni Lee is looking back on a “scary” health complication that she recently faced.

Earlier this year, the 20-year-old world champion gymnast said she’d been diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease. On Thursday, she explained just how concerning things had gotten, noting that she gained 45 pounds this year due to the illness.

“I couldn’t fit into any of my clothes," Lee told USA Today. “My eyes were swollen shut. It was just so scary.’’

Related: Suni Lee Says She's 'Proud' to Inspire Next Generation of Asian American Women to 'Break Molds' in New PSA

Although the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist has managed to keep her medical condition under control as of late, that wasn’t always the case.

“I haven’t had a really bad day in a while," Lee said. “But in the beginning, it was like I was waking up swollen. My fingers were so swollen they wouldn’t fit into my grips and I couldn’t hold on to the bar.”

“My whole body was swollen because I was retaining water, so I couldn’t do a flip... So it was really different and I had to learn how to work through it,” she told USA Today.

Lee, who is currently setting her sights on the 2024 Paris Games, declined to reveal the specifics of her diagnosis and the treatment she's receiving. However, she did share that she’s keeping an eye on her sodium intake.

She told USA Today that she has her fair share of “good days and bad days,” but chooses to work through them as best she can.

Related: Suni Lee Celebrates Being Named to 2021 'TIME100' List: 'No Way!'

“With the good days I just take advantage of what I’m able to do, and on the bad days I just do basics and try and stay as safe as possible," she said.

“Waking up one random Tuesday of the week and you just can’t even recognize yourself is so scary,’’ the Minnesota native said, noting that she’d never had any other medical issues.

Although Lee qualified for the U.S. Championships and was invited to attend the U.S. team selection camp for the world championships, she has instead chosen to focus on her health.

“I just decided that I didn’t want to rush into it and push my body and even risk something happening to be able to prepare for the Olympic year," she continued.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In an interview with SELF magazine published on Oct. 4, Lee said when her symptoms first began, doctors initially thought her swelling could be due to an allergic reaction until it went on for weeks.

She admitted that looking at past videos of herself competing would make her “emotional” because she no longer felt like the athlete she once was.

In an August Instagram post, Lee shared a photo of herself on the beams once again at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic.

“This comeback was so much more than my return to elite gymnastics," she captioned the post. "It was me proving to myself that I can overcome hard things, and to hopefully inspire others to never let life’s setbacks stop you from going after your dreams. see y’all in San Jose🌟.”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.