Amanza Smith was within days of dying and now the "Selling Sunset" star is opening up about the harrowing experience.
Speaking with People, the 46-year-old interior designer revealed that she had a serious bone infection called osteomyelitis. The infection can be rare and life-threatening, and it was affecting her lower spine.
For nearly a month she suffered from severe backache but it was only after collapsing at her Los Angeles home one evening in May that she allowed a close friend to take her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where an MRI discovered she had a dangerously advanced case of vertebral osteomyelitis.
Smith recalled a doctor saying, "One or two more days at home and you could have been dead."
"I thought I had a backache, and I almost died," she said. "The doctors and my friend saved my life."
Upon her arrival at the hospital on June 2, Smith was promptly started on IV antibiotics by the medical team. Subsequently, she underwent a surgical procedure on her lower spine to "clear the infection from the bones."
However, it was revealed that the osteomyelitis had also affected another region towards the front of her spine. Initially, the doctors deemed this particular area too risky to operate on.
"It was close to my aorta and my kidney," she said.
Her medical team thought they could stop the infection with antibiotics. However, Smith's vertebrae continued to deteriorate.
"The risk was the antibiotics wouldn't penetrate the bone, and my entire back could collapse," she explained.
Smith had to undergo another surgery that lasted for six hours. During this procedure, surgeons inserted a cage made of titanium mesh into her back. They used rods and screws to hold her spine together. Eventually, on July 3, she returned home.
The road to recovery involves an additional six months of taking antibiotics as well as physical therapy. Further, Smith can only tread lightly on her feet.
"There are so many things I can't do, because I can't lift more than five pounds," she said. "Sometimes my purse is too heavy. You can't speed up time, but I'm very anxious to be able to do the things that I love to do.
"I like to decorate. I like to rearrange. I want to be able to hang things, but I'm very limited right now."
Despite the obstacles, Smith said she has taken away some positive learning experiences.
"You know who your friends are when you become a burden," she said. "It's like a rebirth. I will never take my mobility for granted again. When I can walk and jog again and do Pilates or ballet, I hope I stick to them because I plan on living to be 107."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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