'Selling Sunset' Star Amanza Smith Undergoes Second Surgery to Replace Part of Her Spine After Blood Infection
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"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,” the reality star wrote on Instagram hours before going into the operating room
Amanza Smith/Instagram
Amanza SmithAmanza Smith gave fans a new update on her health.
The Selling Sunset star, 46, posted an upbeat photo on Instagram on Friday, as she continues to recover from osteomyelitis, a painful infection that spread from her bloodstream to her spine. In the image, Smith can be seen lying in a hospital bed, as she smiles and gives a thumbs-up gesture to the camera. She revealed that she would be heading back into the operating room for a second surgery "in the next few hours" as doctors attempt to repair more of the damage in her spine.
“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,” she wrote in the photo's caption.
She then went on to share her “positive” outlook on her upcoming surgery and what she hopes people can take away from her story.
“I am in good spirits and positive that I will come out 💯 percent after healing in 3/4 months. Life is a journey,” she continued. “This is just another part of my already very colorful story, and I’m going to use it to inspire others to keep pushing through!”
She concluded her message by acknowledging all of the love and support she's received. “Thanking you all in advance for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers. I’ll see you all for an update very soon once the surgery is complete and I’m feeling social media friendly,” she wrote.
Last week, the reality star revealed that she had been diagnosed with osteomyelitis after getting an MRI and CT scan when she felt “something wrong” with her “lower back.” She was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and put on antibiotics but she ended up needing surgery to remove the infection from her spine.
“I’m feeling great. I can stand up, I can walk to the bathroom — very important,” she said in a Wednesday update after the initial surgery, though she noted that she anticipated a second surgery to remove another area of infection.
She explained, “I still have an infection [in] a little bit higher portion of my spine, but it’s on the front of the spine so the procedure or surgery that they would have to do to remove it is quite risky.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories
Smith has previously praised her doctors, saying “the good thing about all of this” is that her medical team is “right on top of everything to get the answers that we need to get me to where I need to be, which is better.”
As she continued to heal last week, the realtor shared an encouraging quote on Instagram about persevering amid tough times:
“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried but actually you’ve been planted! If you’re in a dark place, or you’re feeling low, it’s only up from there, so push through and the beautiful flower of abundance and health and goodness on the other side, it’s going to be so worth it!”
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
