Recovering at home from her recent surgery, Aretha Franklin says she's up and about – and feeling better, too.

"I feel great," she tells JET in a new interview, adding that doctors want her to recuperate for eight weeks. "The doctors say I can do whatever I feel like I am up to do. Of course, that doesn't mean any concerts or anything like that. But I can do things around the house, and today I am just piddling around the house."

The singer, 68, still has not revealed the nature of her ailment, though she's been reported to have pancreatic cancer. She promises the magazine that she will speak out on what's ailing her soon. "I am putting Aretha together first," she adds. "I will talk more later."

While recovering, Franklin says she's received support from Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson, among other well-known names, and plenty of less recognizable ones, too.

"I might not remember everyone's name right this moment," she says, "but, please, I want them to know I appreciate their prayers." Add to those the prayers of her family, too, including family friend Willie Wilkerson, her sons, her niece Sabrina and her cousin Brenda.

"My family has been with me every step of the way," she says. "I couldn't have done it without them, that's for sure."

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