Christian music star Amy Grant had undergone open heart surgery in June, but now the award-winner has opened up about what happened.

“I had an irregular heartbeat for the last 10 years, and it exhibited every day,” she explained. “It bothered me a little bit and then I’ve had a harder time singing in the last five years … everything kind of tightening up as I was trying to sing. I remember a couple times telling Vince, ‘I feel like I’m suffocating.’ It’s the weirdest thing, I’m breathing as deep as I can, but in my mind none of that had to do with my heart.”

Her surgery was a preemptive procedure, intended to fix a genetic heart condition discovered by accident. She was at a regular checkup in late 2019 with her husband, country star Vince Gill, when Gill’s cardiologist encouraged her to do some tests.

The tests revealed a dangerous birth defect called partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR), which if left untreated, could have disastrous results. Grant was told she needed to have surgery before she turned 60, when the risks of a sudden heart attack increased exponentially.

“If I have got something wrong, anybody could have something wrong,” Grant said. “My message would be, ‘Take a minute and take care of yourself.’ You don’t know that something is wrong unless you make sure it’s right.”