Francia Raisa Details Her Difficult Recovery After Kidney Donation to Selena Gomez

You feel that Francia saved your life. Because she did. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] I hadn't asked anything. I knew that she hadn't been feeling well. She couldn't open a water bottle one day. She chucked it and just started crying. And I said what's wrong? And that's what she told me. And she goes, I don't know what to do the list is seven to ten years long. And it just vomited out of me. I was like, of course I'll get tested. [MUSIC] My teeth were, I was grinding, I was freaking out. It was a six hour surgery that they had to do. On me and the normal kidney process is about two hours. Apparently one of the arteries had flipped. I'm very thankful there are people who know what to do in that situation. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]

Last summer when Selena Gomez needed a kidney transplant, actress Francia Raisa stepped up to the plate, donating an organ to save her friend's life. All this went down in June, but no one had any idea it took place until Gomez made a statement on social media in September.

Since then, the two ladies have slowly opened up about the experience and how it has impacted their relationship. In a new interview with Harry Connick Jr. on his talk show Harry, Raisa details her side of the story, explaining her challenging recovery and how it made Gomez her family.

“It’s harder as the donor because we are losing something our body didn’t need to lose ... she’s gaining something her body needed,” the 29-year-old actress told the talk show host, according to Just Jared. “So she’s up and at it immediately, and I had a hard time.”

The National Kidney Foundation explains that while it's possible to live a normal, healthy life with only one kidney, the recovery process isn't easy. In addition to spending four to six days at the hospital post-op, donors should avoid strenuous activity for six weeks and will likely experience pain, tenderness, and itching as the incision heals.

“I basically have four scars,” Francia added. “It was laparoscopic, those mothers out there who had C-sections, I feel you. I don’t know how you take care of a child afterwards. It is crazy!"

The Secret Life of the American Teenager star explained that she couldn't do anything on her own and wasn't allowed to exercise for two months.

"I couldn’t get up without having someone help me. That was very humbling," Francia said, according to the source. "I couldn’t take a shower by myself, I had to have someone help me because I couldn’t move. I’m a very, very active person, so the fact that my doctor said I couldn’t move for 2 months. Two months, I couldn’t do anything active ... It was really, really hard.”

When she was finally cleared to work out again, Raisa couldn't help but share a clip of herself going hard at the gym. Check out those scars—so badass!

While Francia may have parted with a kidney, she explains that she gained a new family member in the process.

"She felt bad about even having me do that because we are just friends, I am not her family or anything," she said in the interview. "Well, I am now. She has my blood."

We'll never get over how selfless Francia is—she's an inspiration to all of us. You can catch her full interview on Monday's episode of Harry.