Nick Cannon: Kidney Failure's Mysterious Cause Explained

Posted on Jan 18th 2012 12:15PM by Contessa Gayles

Nick Cannon Paul Morigi, WireImage

Nick Cannon is back to work after undergoing surgery for mild kidney failure earlier this month, and the entertainment mogul, TV personality and rapper/actor has revealed how his health scare has forced him to re-prioritize his life in a big way.

Nick and wife Mariah Carey already seemed to be loving parents before Nick's hospitalization, but the new dad told MTV News that he is focused on being a family man now more than ever before. "Right now my kids are everything -- they're always going to be everything, but when something like this happens to you, everything else is shut out and you're just focused on them," he admitted. "So every second you just notice so many things ... it just makes it so much more poignant. I love everything that they do and just want to be a part of everything."

Nick and Mariah welcomed twins Moroccan (pictured with daddy above) and Monroe in April 2011, and Cannon says "Roc and Roe" have inspired him to change his lifestyle in order to be a healthy, present father for them. "There's a second where you're thinking, 'What if I'm not able to instill the things I want to instill into my children?' It just makes you think, like, 'I need to give them everything I could possibly give them right now,' and obviously it starts with love."

The biggest change Nick has made for his children is to adopt strict renal diet, which means limiting fluids, protein, salt, potassium, phosphorous and electrolytes. "I always considered myself as someone who was in great shape, but I was doing too much [to my body] so my immune system got confused and just started attacking my kidneys," Cannon revealed.

He added that looks can sometimes be deceiving when it comes to health. "You look at my Twitter picture and I look like I'm in shape, but I was putting the wrong stuff into my body, speeding all the time, not sleeping and eating properly. It's all about taking time and really caring about yourself and how you fuel yourself."

Unfortunately the overworked, sleep-deprived and not-so-diet-conscious business man had to learn his lesson "the hard way," as he explained in a video message to his fans today (Jan. 18). "It's not all about the grind," he warned.

Watch 'Nick Cannon Talks Health After Hospitalization' Video

Watch Mariah Carey's 'Butterfly' Video

Follow @AOLMusic on Twitter | Like AOL Music on Facebook | Sign Up for Newsletter

Download Mariah Carey Songs | Buy Mariah Carey Albums