Naomi Judd & Daughter Wynonna Croon Over The Judds’ Las Vegas Reunion, As Naomi Shares Hepatitis C Battle [Video]

Naomi Judd is crooning over the Judds reuniting for their Las Vegas residency. And fans who have missed Naomi and her daughter Wynonna Judd since they performed together about five years ago will want to get ready to stomp their boots over their upcoming Las Vegas shows, reported MSN.

Nine shows, scheduled starting October 7 and ending October 24, will be performed by Naomi and Wynonna. The Judds haven’t released an album for 25 years, and their last one was “Love Can Build a Bridge.”

Although hepatitis resulted in Naomi’s retirement in the 1990s, her daughter kept on singing. The Judds have won five Grammy awards. Among their most famous hits are “Girls Night Out” and “Why Not Me.”

The country music duo were at the height of their career when Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Judd revealed to Everyday Health that she did not initially recognize what the symptoms meant.

Naomi and Wynonna were immersed in their tours, from singing at the half-time show during Super Bowl to the London Palladium and even Carnegie Hall. But in 1989, Judd began to feel unusually fatigued, with symptoms that included nausea, aching muscles, and headaches.

After Naomi collapsed one day, she visited the Mayo Clinic and received a diagnosis of non-A, non-B hepatitis. A liver biopsy resulted in the doctors’ decree that she had possibly as little as three years more of life.

After that terrifying news, Judd finally was diagnosed with hepatitis C, and that resulted in hope that she could outlive that grim prognosis.

Because Naomi previously was a registered nurse, she theorizes that her virus resulted from getting stuck with a needle that was infected during her past career.

Using her knowledge from her nursing career, Naomi began researching, trying everything from meditation and music to acupuncture. She also took an antidepressant for depression, and was forced to retire from singing.

Judd then became a pioneer in the use of interferon.

“I met with the makers of the first draft of interferon and asked how I might buffer the side effects, because the other hepatitis C sufferers I was communicating with often had to discontinue their treatments because they couldn’t tolerate the severe side effects. I hung on by my fingernails. When I gave myself the shots in my abdomen three times a week, I would smell eucalyptus. I would light a candle. I would say my affirmations and my prayers.”

After interferon was available in an improved version, she began to feel better. Naomi then worked with Dr. Bruce Bacon, University of St. Louis’ head of Hematology. In addition to working with him to make the public more aware of hepatitis C, Judd’s prayers were answered.

“In 1995, Dr. Bruce proclaimed me cured of the hepatitis C virus,” Naomi recalled.

Judd is now serving as an ambassador for hepatitis C research.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]