after undergoing it Two spinal surgeries this summer, Sunset sale The star, Amanza Smith, is a survivor in the truest sense of the word.
The 46-year-old interior designer revealed to People how he developed osteomyelitis, a rare and life-threatening disease bone infection He was attacking her lower vertebrae. After nearly a month of severe back pain caused her to collapse one evening at her Los Angeles home in May, Smith agreed to let a close friend take her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center five days later.
An MRI discovered that Smith had it Spinal osteomyelitiswhich is a fatal condition for Two out of every 10 patients— and in her case it was dangerously advanced. Her doctor later told her, “One or two more days at home, and you could have died.”
“I thought I had a bad back, and I almost died,” Smith told PEOPLE this week. “The doctors and my friend saved my life.”
It’s been a long and painful journey since those early days after she was diagnosed. when smith He arrived at the hospital On June 2nd, doctors gave her intravenous antibiotics, and I underwent surgery Smith explains that on the lower part of her spine to “remove the infection from the bone”.
But it turns out that osteomyelitis, which can result from contamination during a medical procedure or injection (in Smith’s case, doctors couldn’t pinpoint the cause) also affected another area in the front of the spine.
The section seemed too dangerous to play at first. “It was close to the aorta and the kidney,” Smith explains.
Amanza Smith’s scars from her June spine surgery. Filmed for people in July.” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5_8_xVkpoFwcm3AscCJs9A–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTk2MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/ 022c333c76c2e9f0cee957f7e4a6f2e3″/>
Doctors had hoped the antibiotics would stop the infection, but her vertebrae continued to deteriorate. “The danger was that the antibiotics wouldn’t penetrate the bone, and my whole back might collapse,” she adds.
Smith underwent The second surgery It lasted for six hours, as doctors inserted a titanium mesh cage into her back, with rods and screws to hold her spine together. She joked, “I am an iron woman, with bars and nails.”
Smith scarred shortly after spinal surgery in June.” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JKKHl0lGTXEGXg0sRgvIIQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTk0MA–/https://media .zenfs.com/en/people_218/b41b66b3f869c20d6226b8ce4489ea07″ class=”caas-img”/>
Courtesy Amanza Smith
Smith’s scars shortly after spine surgery in June.
Related: ‘Selling Sunset’ Star Amanza Smith Says Her Spinal Surgery Was ‘Absolute Perfection’
X-ray showing the titanium rods found in Smith’s spine.” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/f61le.RfzqUHn7OOCEzl.A–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTkzOA–/ https:// media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/fb30f3de32b0d21dece57d1412f6e351″ class=”caas-img”/>
Courtesy Amanza Smith
X-ray image showing titanium rods inserted into Smith’s spine.
Reality TV star finally He returned to the house on July 3. The road to recovery includes another six months of antibiotics, along with physical therapy and brisk walking.
“There are so many things I can’t do, because I can’t lift more than five pounds,” she explains. “Sometimes my bag is too heavy. You can’t speed up time, but I’m so keen that I can do the things I love to do. I love decorating. I love rearranging. I want to be able to hang things, but I’m very limited right now.”
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Despite the challenges, her health concerns have given her a new perspective.
Smith was photographed for People in Santa Monica in July.” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/O5kOM5.PnwKN7MRhx0nAHw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTkyMA–/https://media.zenfs .com/en/people_218/09bde79e3cf8c354bad034fdc7459fe8″ class=”caas-img”/>
Matt Sayles
Smith photographed for People in Santa Monica in July.
“You know who your friends are when you become a burden,” she says. “It’s like a rebirth. I will never take my mobility for granted again. When I can walk and run again and do Pilates or ballet, I hope to stick with it because I plan to live to be 107.”
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