‘Time is now my enemy’: Why Kris Aquino is saying goodbye to followers ‘for the next few years’

Kris Aquino is currently in the US where she is seeking medical treatment for EGPA. Instagram: @krisaquino

Actress-host Kris Aquino said goodbye Friday to her friends and followers “for now and for the next few years,” as she shared an update on her rare autoimmune condition.

Aquino is currently in the US where she is seeking long-term treatment after being diagnosed with Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA), according to her Instagram post on Friday.

To explain her condition, Aquino shared a detailed medical statement from her attending physician, Dr. Niño Gavino, a Filipino-American doctor based in Houston.

Part of Dr. Gavino’s statement, pertaining to her treatment, read: “The subsequent 9-12 months will be crucial for us to see if she (Aquino) can achieve remission and continue the regimen further because to survive, Ms. Aquino will have to make whichever combination works, her lifetime maintenance medicine.

“With no medical intervention overall, the life expectancy of those with EGPA is at about 25%. With the proper treatment, 5-year survival rate is at 62%. Only 1 in every 1 million people get this form of vasculitis per year. That is how rare and hard to treat Ms. Aquino’s case is.”

In light of the treatment plan which will take at least nine months, Aquino bid farewell to social media, as well as her friends, saying, “Time is now my enemy.”

“I’ll miss you, my friends & followers, very much. Time is now my enemy, naghahabol kami hoping na wala pang permanent damage to the blood vessels leading to my heart. So many people to thank but I choose to do that privately. #grateful,” she wrote.

“For now and the next few years — sadly, it’s goodbye. Praying na kayanin ng katawan ko itong matinding pagsubok.”

Aquino, 51, first revealed her battle with autoimmune conditions in 2018, and has been chronicling her health journey, including her symptoms, since then.