“Real Housewives of Orange County” star Vicki Gunvalson is still recovering from a terrible illness that could have taken her life.
“My friend, my soulmate, my podcast.” Gunvalson detailed the situation, and was joined by her boyfriend, Michael Smith, to fill in the gaps.
She had been driving and going about her normal life but “appeared to have been missing for about an hour or two and had no idea where she was,” he said, adding that when she got to the office she began speaking and writing incomprehensible words.
The reality TV star was fortunate enough to be meeting with a client, a former emergency physician, who warned her employee and Smith's daughter, Olivia, that Gunvalson might be having a stroke.
'RHOC' star Vicki Gunvalson leaves show after 14 seasons: 'I'm an OG of The OC through and through'
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Vicki Gunvalson revealed the horrifying details of the nasty infection she's still recovering from on “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast.” (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
“From that point on, I really don't remember much of anything,” Gunvalson said through tears. She was initially misdiagnosed with sinusitis and left the hospital with Olivia, who then contacted her father and asked him to come home and spend time with her.
Smith explained that he rushed home after receiving a call from his daughter and found Gunvalson giving herself a bath and “nearly unconscious.” After getting her out of the bath and putting her to bed, doctors told her she just needed to rest, and Smith said she slept for almost 14 hours.
He decided to wake her up and asked her questions, but when she delayed responding he took her back to the hospital.
“There were so many things that could have happened and gone wrong, but they didn't. Thank you, Jesus.”
“She had a severe infection. It was actually sepsis, but it was pneumonia,” he said. “What happened was … when the body is fighting an infection that severe and dangerous, the whole body attacks it, which affects the brain and other parts of the body, because the body is doing everything it can to fight it.”
Gunvalson's boyfriend, Michael Smith, rushed to her hospital during her second stay and learned she had sepsis and pneumonia. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Bravo via Getty Images)
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Gunvalson said members of the medical team told her she had a “10 to 20 percent chance of survival.” [rate]”The sepsis that has occurred in your body is fatal, but you survived, so you'll be OK. It's just going to take a while,” I was told.
“There were so many things that could have happened and gone wrong and they didn't. Thank you, Jesus,” she said, before thanking Smith, who praised Olivia for being resourceful and getting her to the hospital.
“I don't remember much. It's brain trauma,” Gunvalson said. She was told the symptoms were similar to a stroke or PTSD, causing the brain to go into “silence mode” and forget to protect itself.
Gunvalson was given antibiotics and steroids and his condition is improving, and Smith said he was an excellent nurse.
“There were so many things that could have happened and gone wrong, and they didn't. Thank Jesus,” Gunvalson said. (Rich Polk/Bravo via Getty Images)
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He also got emotional when talking about her health scare, saying: “I tried to be the tough guy, deadpan, but it was scary for a while.”
He added: “She's getting better. She's OK. She's coming out of this.”
Gunvalson also continued to get emotional, saying, “I cry a lot, and Michael keeps saying, 'Why do you keep crying?' I don't have an answer.”
Both Gunvalson and Smith became emotional while recounting the incident. (Sara Jay/Getty Images, courtesy of 21Seeds Tequila)
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She added: “A week ago we walked 10 miles in Barcelona. [to] I walked 20,000 steps and was having the time of my life, but three days later… [I’m in the hospital]”
