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More From Cojo on His Kidney Transplants

Steven Cojocaru talks to Mary Hart about the many medications he had to take following his transplant surgeries.

 

STEVEN COJOCARU sits down with MARY HART today for the second of his two-part interview about his upcoming book, Glamour, Interrupted: How I Became the Best-Dressed Patient in Hollywood. The memoir, dropping Tuesday, Jan. 22, is an in-depth chronicle of his experiences undergoing two life-saving kidney transplants. The second one was necessary when his first transplanted kidney developed problems.

In the memoir, Cojo writes candidly about all the medications he took following his surgery, including Xanax®, Vicodin® and steroids.

"I didn't expect to be so candid in this book," the fashion guru tells Mary. "I really didn't. I didn't know where I would go with this book. I know that before it started, I got very emotional and very afraid. I was also on steroids. And I was a crazy person. You cannot make lucid decisions when you are on steroids."

Cojo goes on to tell the ET host that he felt as if he were on the brink of insanity, but he had no choice, because when you come out of transplant surgery, the doctors have to blast you with steroids to prevent organ rejection.

"I had a huge emotional fallout," he recalls. "There was such a dark streak. I'm so ashamed of the way I treated my parents, the most gentle, angelic people in the world. I was like a dragon. I was spewing blood and fire. The slightest thing would set me off. And I felt guilty. There were huge guilt issues."

In addition to his anger, Cojo, who received his first donated kidney from a friend and the second from his mother, was also afraid he would lose his career. He felt that the Hollywood community would turn its back on him feeling he was "tainted" or "diseased." So he was happily surprised when several of his favorite stars reached out to him.

"To get a personal phone call from [SARAH JESSICA PARKER] that was so heartfelt, elegant and lovely -- I don't think she realizes how much that meant," he shares. "RENÉE ZELLWEGER sent me a balloon. I know that sounds simple, but I can't tell you how, in a dark moment, it put such a smile on my face."

With therapy and a reduction in his medications, Cojo indicates that his life is back on track. Now, he wants to work to raise awareness of organ donations, so no one has to wait seven years to get a life-saving transplant.

"What I've experienced is so powerful," he says. "I've seen the worst, but I've also seen the best. ... I'm not making any proclamations that I'm going to save the world. I do want to shake things up, and I want to make people aware of kidney disease."

Posted January 21, 2008 1:45:00 AM
See All: celebs Cojo glamour, interrupted mary hart Steven Cojocaru

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