Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith has shared an update after undergoing surgery to treat an infection that spread from her bloodstream to her spine.
The interior designer, who works at the real estate company The Oppenheim Group, has revealed in a new interview how osteomyelitis, a painful bone infection, had affected her lower vertebrae.
Smith, 46, discovered the infection after experiencing severe backache that lasted nearly a month. After she collapsed while at her Los Angeles home back in May, her friend encouraged her to visit the hospital.
“I thought I had a backache, and I almost died,” Smith told People in the magazine’s latest issue. “The doctors and my friend saved my life.”
Smith told the publication that she was given antibiotics to treat the infection but faced some complications. She underwent surgery on her lower spin to “clear the infection from the bones” but later found out that the osteomyelitis had affected another area at the front of her spine.
“The risk was the antibiotics wouldn’t penetrate the bone, and my entire back could collapse,” she said.
Smith had two surgeries to treat the osteomyelitis, which included having part of her spine replaced after it “deteriorated” as a result of the infection. The second operation lasted six hours, in which doctors inserted a titanium mesh cage in her back.
She previously said: “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.”
In the new interview, she told People: “I am an iron woman, with rods and screws.”
Amanza Smith pictured in 2022— (Getty Images for JOPR)
Smith returned home from hospital in early July, but her recovery period involves six months of antibiotics, physical therapy and “treading lightly on her feet”.
“There are so many things I can’t do, because I can’t lift more than five pounds,” she told the publication.
“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.”
Reflecting on her period in hospital, Smith said that she would never take her 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,” she said.
According to the NHS, osteomyelitis is a painful bone infection that usually goes away if treated early with antibiotics. However, it can cause serious long-term problems if not treated.
Anyone can develop the infection, but a person may be more at risk if they have diabetes, a broken bone, a weakened immune system or recently had an infection or surgery.
Smith joined Netflix’s hit reality show Selling Sunset in the second series in 2019. The show follows the drama surrounding employees at The Oppenheim Group, an elite real estate brokerage selling luxury properties in Los Angeles.
