After several months of talk and speculation, Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel is giving details about her health scare that has been a topic of discussion since March. In an interview with People, the 45-year-old Skinnygirl mogul revealed she's been battling with debilitating fibroids. She said, "I'd lost 10 percent of my blood, my uterus had doubled in size and my fibroids had grown larger. I was scared." Over the past year, she revealed to People that she's suffered from pelvic cramping and out of control bleeding with both sending her to the emergency room multiple times. Eventually, a sonogram revealed her non-cancerous fibroid issue, which was actually first diagnosed in 2013. Frankel even revealed she thinks it was the cause of her miscarriage in 2012 at just eight weeks.
The above details have remained a mystery until now, because Frankel has rightfully chosen to kept her health issues to herself. That said, the reality star has touched upon it from time to time in different interviews. For example, she first opened up about it to People in March and said, "I'm facing a women's health issue that many women can relate to." She also told People in May about her choice to remain quiet about it,"No one really talks about them. I didn't realize how many people have them. It's still something women don't share."
Based on last Wednesday's RHONY episode and upcoming episodes, viewers will definitely get an insight into her health battle. As scary as all of this sounds, Frankel did have the fibroids removed in late May. "It was extremely painful," she tole People about the surgery. "I slept in bed for like a week. And I focused on getting healthy, drinking green juices and eating a lot of bright-colored foods so I could help myself heal as fast as possible. You know, just trying not to have a BLT be the first thing I eat."
Well, it definitely sounds like she's doing much better. As she told People, "I feel really good. I look forward to walking on the beach. I'm in a really happy place right now. It was, overall, a very enlightening experience.
If you want to learn more about her health, Frankel has also published an open letter on her official website, where she goes into detail about her battle, what she's learned, and how her RHONY co-stars Dorinda Medley, Carole Radziwill, and Ramona Singer have been great friends during the difficult time. She said about them, "A special shout out goes to Dorinda and Carole who came to the MD with me and Ramona who reached out to me every day for over six weeks asking the same question 'how’s the bleeding?' They were so sweet and supportive."
She also wants other women to know that they should never feel ashamed for any health issues they're facing. As she writes in her letter, "Don’t feel shame. Other women are going through the same issue and it’s OK to talk about it." It's certainly not an easy subject, but it's nice that Frankel is speaking up now in her own terms, and I'm glad she's doing better.
