Bethenny Frankel is not one to mince words, nor is she a person to complain. That’s why when she claimed she was “bleeding everywhere” on Real Housewives Of New York, I knew something could really be wrong with her. Like she said, women bleed all the time — periods, spotting, whatever — but as a woman, you know when something is off with your body. After finally going to the doctor, Bethenny revealed that she has some really bad fibroids in her uterus, and her health scare was a really brave moment to show on Real Housewives Of New York .
Luckily, Dorinda and Bethenny were at a staged photo op, I mean a shopping excursion at HomeGoods when the bleeding started to get really bad, and Dorinda rushed to the doctor with Bethenny. I know their shopping trip was a setup, but I really do think that Dorinda is the friend who chooses to come with you to doctor’s appointment to listen and hold your hand and give you support if things are tough. The verdict? Bethenny needs surgery because she has some serious fibroids in her uterus that are bleeding all over — she lost 10% of her blood! According to the Mayo Clinic, uterine fibroids are “noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during childbearing years,” and they’re not “associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer.” It basically feeds off blood vessels in your body, kind of like a leech.
Bethenny has to have surgery — what kind she chose she did not elect to say, but a hysterectomy was an option — to battle these bad boys. Though she’s going through something really tough, I’m glad she showed all of this on RHONY. Women’s health is a subject that frequently gets swept under the rug – it’s too “icky” and gross for people to talk about periods and uteri and whatever goes along with it. I hope that other women hear Bethenny’s story and go and get checked out if they have symptoms or at least encourage their friends to do so. You can mock the Real Housewives all you want, but they have a platform for their show, and Bethenny is using it for good.
Images: Dave Kotinsky/Bravo; Giphy
