Former star of The Real Housewives of Orange County Vicki Gunvalson revealed she is lucky to be alive after a sinus infection was mistakenly diagnosed as pneumonia and severe sepsis.
The 62-year-old businesswoman spoke about her health problems in her podcast “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast.” There, Gunvalson reported that she suffered from amnesia and stroke-like symptoms. Gunvalson described the alarming conversation with a doctor who diagnosed her.
“I said, ‘Did I hear that right, that I had a 10 to 20 percent chance of survival?'” Gunvalson told co-host Christian Gray Snow and partner Michael Smith on the podcast. “Yes, the sepsis that invaded your body is fatal and you survived it. And that’s why you’re going to be OK. It’s just going to take a while.'”
Doctors treated the Bravo alum with antibiotics and steroids for several days. Gunvalson said she still feels weak and has no lack of energy.
“I have pneumonia, although I’ve never had it in my life. My right lung is pretty full of dirt,” said Gunvalson emotionally. “I can hardly get it up. That’s my biggest problem.”
Customer found Gunvalson in the office “talking gibberish”
Gunvalson recounted the terrifying moments that led to her precise diagnosis. On Thursday, she recalled being in a hair salon before undergoing a procedure that lasted an hour or two and which she no longer remembers. During that time, Smith’s daughter, Olivia, found Gunvalson in the office talking to a customer.
“A customer came to me and said I was talking nonsense and wrote an email that didn’t make sense,” Gunvalson said.
The client, a retired emergency room physician, informed Olivia that Gunvalson may have suffered a stroke, and Gunvalson was taken to a hospital. Gunvalson said she was misdiagnosed by medical staff there and treated for a sinus infection, after which she was sent home. Smith later arrived at Gunvalson’s home to find her unconscious in a bathtub filled with water.
“One of the scariest things for me was when I came in and Vicki for some reason decided she wanted to take a bath. So she was in the bathtub with water and I came in and she was basically unconscious,” Smith said. “So I grabbed her, that was scary, and I grabbed her, pulled her out of the water and put her in the bed.”
After sleeping for nearly 14 hours, Smith took Gunvalson back to the hospital where she was properly diagnosed and treated.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a serious condition resulting from a bacterial infection such as pneumonia, skin infection, gastrointestinal infection, or urinary tract infection. If the infection spreads through the bloodstream, it can cause symptoms such as fever, chills, low blood pressure, increased heart rate and rapid breathing, and confusion and disorientation.
Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, previously told USA TODAY that sepsis can also cause the body’s overreaction to an infection, in which pro-inflammatory substances that help fight the infection ultimately damage organs such as the kidneys, lungs, heart or brain.
While most people recover from mild sepsis, the mortality rate for septic shock is “about 30 to 40 percent,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Contributors: Adrianna Rodriguez
