‘Real Housewives’ star details ‘deadly’ infection she battled that had ’10 to 20 percent survival’ rate

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"The Real Housewives of Orange County" star Vicki Gunvalson is still recovering from a terrifying illness that could have killed her.

On the "My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast," Gunvalson shared the details, joined by boyfriend Michael Smith to help fill in gaps.

She said she had been driving and going about her normal day, but "there seems to be about an hour or two that I was missing and I don’t know where I was," adding that she began speaking and writing gibberish when she arrived at her office.

The reality star was meeting with a client who thankfully happened to be a retired ER doctor, and he alerted her employee Olivia, Smith’s daughter, that Gunvalson was possibly having a stroke.

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"The Real Housewives of Orange County" star Vicki Gunvalson revealed the scary details of a nasty infection she's still recovering from on the "My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast." (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

In tears, Gunvalson said, "From that point on, I really don’t remember much." She says she was initially misdiagnosed with a sinus infection and discharged home with Olivia, who contacted her father to come home to be with her.

Smith explained that he rushed home after his daughter called him, where he found Gunvalson had set up a bath for herself and was "pretty much passed out." After getting her out of the bath and into bed, doctors told them she just needed rest, and Smith said she slept for almost 14 hours.

He decided to wake her up, and asked her questions, to which she gave delayed responses, so he took her back to the hospital.

"There was a litany of things that could have happened or gone wrong, and it didn’t so, thank you, Jesus."

— Vicki Gunvalson

"She had a massive infection. It was actually sepsis, but it was pneumonia," he said, "and what happened… is that when your body is fighting that big of an infection and that dangerous of an infection, your whole body attacks it, which affects the brain and everything else in your body because your body sends everything it has to fight it."

Gunvalson's boyfriend, Michael Smith, rushed to her side for her second hospital stay, where they learned she had sepsis and pneumonia. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Bravo via Getty Images)

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Gunvalson said she also had a member of her medical team say she had a "10 to 20 percent survival [rate]" and was told "the sepsis that went to your body is deadly, and you survived it. So, you’re going to be OK. It’s going to take a while."

"There was a litany of things that could have happened or gone wrong, and it didn’t so, thank you, Jesus," she said, adding thanks to Smith. He in turn credited Olivia for her quick thinking in getting her to the hospital.

"I don’t remember much, and that’s the trauma of the brain," Gunvalson said. She was told it’s similar to stroke or PTSD, and the brain goes into "quiet mode, it won’t remember to protect you."

Gunvalson was put on antibiotics and steroids and is improving, and said Smith has been an excellent nurse.

Gunvalson said, "There was a litany of things that could have happened or gone wrong, and it didn’t so, thank you, Jesus." (Rich Polk/Bravo via Getty Images)

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He also became emotional as they recounted her health scare, saying, "I was trying to be the stone-faced tough guy, but it was scary for a while."

He added, "She’s doing better, she will be fine. She’s coming out of it."

Gunvalson also continued to be emotional, saying, "I cry a lot, and Michael keeps saying, ‘Why do you keep crying?’ I don’t have an answer."

Gunvalson and Smith were both emotional as they recounted the ordeal. (Sara Jaye/Getty Images for 21Seeds Tequila)

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She added, "I mean, rewind a week ago, we were in Barcelona walking 16 [to] 20,000 steps, and we were having the time of our life, and three days later, [I’m in the hospital]."