Avril Lavigne's husband, Chad Kroeger, has spoken for the first time about her battle with debilitating Lyme disease. The Nickelback frontman admitted he was "very thankful" that Avril's condition was now public knowledge.Chad, 40, opened up while being interviewed by KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O in Australia this week. "I'm like, 'OK the wife has come out and said this and now I don't have to keep hiding,'" he said. "With everyone going, 'What's wrong with your wife?', and me just going, 'Ah, she's going to be fine'.
© Photo: Getty ImagesChad Kroeger is 'thankful' wife Avril's Lyme disease diagnosis is out in the open
He added: "I'm like, 'Okay, I can talk about this now.'"The musician – currently on tour with Nickelback - also said that 30-year-old Avril was doing well, saying, "things are looking up and definitely getting better".Avril only revealed her battle with Lyme disease last week in an interview with People. She said she had been left bedridden for five months before it was correctly diagnosed shortly after her 30th birthday last year."I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move," she told the US magazine. "I thought I was dying. "Lyme disease is a bacterial infection contracted from infected ticks, fleas or mosquitos. If not treated with antibiotics swiftly, the crippling symptoms can persist for years. "There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand," Avril said. "It felt like having all your life sucked out of you."
© Photo: Getty ImagesAvril Lavigne has said she is determined to see the "positives" in her situation
Nevertheless, the singer is determined to see the "positives" in her situation and is using her illness as a motivation. "I've always wanted to make a Christmas album, but I've never had the time," she told Billboard. "But now it's like, 'You know what, just do it!' Because that's something I really want to do, so that's going to be next for me. I'm doing things at my speed and never being too overwhelmed, like the way I have in the past."I really want to enjoy everything, because life is good. And even though this circumstance is unfortunate, I think there are a lot of positives with it. I’m definitely choosing to view it that way. "Avril also said that she feels a "responsibility" to share her experiences. "I need to talk about Lyme disease," she added. "Because it's real, it's out there, it was a simple bug bite and it could happen to anybody. "People need to know about it, because it's not talked about that much and a lot of the information that's out there is inaccurate."
