'Selling Sunset' Star Amanza Smith Recovering From Second Surgery
By Melanie VanDerveer on June 19, 2023 at 7:00 PM EDT
After Amanza Smith's second surgery to clear up a blood infection that spread to her spine, the "Selling Sunset" star gave an update on social media so that everyone knows she's doing "okay."
Amanza Smith Gave An Update On Social Media After Her "Risky" Second Surgery
In a short video on Instagram, Smith explains briefly how surgery went. She started her video by explaining that it's tough for her to respond to everyone's texts and calls right now, which is why she decided to film a short video.
"Just know that I'm okay. The surgery went better than it could have even gone. It went absolutely perfection. And they were able to even remove infection from not just from my bone, but from the risky areas around it that could have potentially went into my organs," she said groggy and clearly in pain. "I'm gonna get through this."
Many of her friends and followers dropped into the comments of the video to leave their words of support and love.
"You will get through this 👏❤️," one person wrote. Another added, "Sending SO much love and healing your way Amanza ❤️❤️❤️."
Amanza Smith Has Been In The Hospital For Weeks Fighting A Blood Infection That Spread To Her Bones
The realtor and reality star has been in the hospital for more than two weeks to treat a blood infection that has spread to the bones in her spine. While the IV antibiotics worked to clear up the infection in her blood, it's been tougher to reach the infection in her bones and surgery became a necessity.
In a recent Instagram Story before she went in for her second surgery, she explained to her followers just what was going on and what prompted the need for another surgery.
"The first surgery went well. The first surgery was basically just to clean the infection out of the bottom of my spine. And it wasn’t as serious of a surgery as this next one is going to be. I still had a portion of infection on some upper regions of my spine that actually deteriorated my bone to about one-quarter," she said in her Story.
"Now, about one-quarter of the bone is left and it’s starting to seep into another one of my vertebrae, so the fear and potential risk of losing more bone by waiting and seeing if the penetration of the antibiotics would finally work is something that is quite risky."
Smith said that if they wait to see if the antibiotics will kick in, the risk becomes greater that it could erode more of the bone and then more vertebrae would need to be replaced.
The "Selling Sunset" star also explained that her recovery from this surgery will be "tough" and can take about three to four months. But she reminded everyone that she's going to be just fine.
"But, I’ll be okay," she said. "I’m in good spirits. I feel positive, I feel grateful that we got here two weeks ago when I did, that it didn’t have longer than it has to create more damage to my bones and my back. And I know that I’m going to make a 100 percent speedy recovery with a perfect outcome, and I’ll be twerking and dancing and shaking and moving in no time."
Smith also posted a photo with a caption explaining things for anyone who missed the IG Story.
"Hey guys! Updating all here. I’ll be going in for my second surgery in the next few hours. Part of my spine has completely deteriorated due to the infection and I’ll be getting a new vertebrae and a couple of screws and rods in my spine to replace what has been eaten away from the bacteria. This is my short caption version of the entire explanation but it’s enough to let you all know the gist of it all," her caption began.
She continued to say she's in "good spirits and positive" and she knows she will soon be healing. She also said she's sharing her story in the hopes that it will "inspire others to keep pushing through."
It All Started With Terrible Back Pain
Not long after being admitted to the hospital, Smith took to Instagram to tell her followers what was going on.
"Over a month ago and all of this started I thought that I had a bulging disk or a slipped disc or something wrong with my lower back that was regular. I laid in pain in my house for several days. I cried. I took Tylenol. I went to urgent care. I didn’t know what it was but after over a month of excruciating pain I finally started to get some answers," the caption to her video began.
"I got an MRI and a CT scan and then was told that I need to go to Cedar Sinai. I came to Cedar Sinai last Friday thinking that I was going to get another scan on my back and then go home. Instead, I was admitted and they immediately started testing me for things in my blood."
Her caption continued by explaining that she has osteomyelitis, and that she's about to go into surgery to have the infection removed from her spine.