Amanza Smith is opening up about life-threatening spine infection.
In early July, the 46-year-old Selling Sunset star revealed that she was finally back home after a 31-day stay at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for vertebral osteomyelitis — a potentially deadly bone infection that nearly killed her.
Keep reading to find out more…
While speaking with People, Amanza recalled collapsing from excruciating back pain at her home in Los Angeles back in May.
After getting an MRI, it was discovered that she had an advanced case of the condition and doctors told her, “One or two more days at home and you could have been dead.”
“I thought I had a backache, and I almost died,” Amanza recalled. “The doctors and my friend saved my life.”
Amanza then underwent antibiotic treatments and surgery in June, but doctors soon learned that the vertebral osteomyelitis had progressed from the back of her spine to the front of it, getting dangerously close to her aorta and kidneys.
“The risk was the antibiotics wouldn’t penetrate the bone and my entire back could collapse,” Amanza said.
Amanza then underwent a second six-hour surgery, where doctors placed a titanium mesh cage in her back.
“I am an iron woman, with rods and screws,” Amanza joked.
Amanza‘s recovery at home now includes six more months of antibiotics along with physical therapy and treading lightly for the time being.
“There are so many things I can’t do, because I can’t lift more than five pounds,” Amanza explained. “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.”
After the health scare, Amanza says she now has a new perspective on life.
“You know who your friends are when you become a burden,” Amanza shared. “Its 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.”
We’re glad to hear that Amanza is recovering well after her health battle.