Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson reveals horrifying health scare

Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson has revealed that she went through a horrific health scare earlier this month. 

Gunvalson, 62, opened up about her near-death experience after she was 'misdiagnosed' and treated for a sinus infection before jetting off to Europe. 

During an episode of 'My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast' the Bravo star got emotional as she talked about the amnesia and stroke-like symptoms she experienced before being rushed to the hospital. 

Her boyfriend, Michael Smith - who was not home when Gunvalson went to the emergency room - said he found her unconscious in a bathtub after doctors treated her for a sinus infection and discharged her. 

Smith quickly took her back to the hospital where they discovered she had pneumonia and sepsis and a '10 to 20 percent [chance of] survival.' 

'I said, "Did I hear this right that I had a 10 to 20 percent [chance of] survival?",' Gunvalson recalled asking her doctor. 

She soon learned that the sepsis nearly killed her, but she thankfully made it out alive and is now in recovery. 

Gunvalson, dressed in pajamas, said that she could only recall what happened before her symptoms took over as she started her day at the hair salon before heading into her office. 

'There seems to be about an hour or two that I was missing and I don't know where I was. I got to the office. Olivia is [my boyfriend] Michael's daughter who works with me.

'I had a client coming in and she said I was talking gibberish and I wrote an email out and the email didn't make sense,' she recalled. 

The client she saw was a retired ER physician who thought she was having a stroke. Smith's daughter then took her to the hospital and called her father who was out of town in Phoenix. 

The reality star said the last thing she remembered was that the hospital 'misdiagnosed' her with a sinus infection before being discharged at 7pm that night. 

Smith, who joined his girlfriend and her co-host Christian Gray Snow on Monday's episode, recounted what happened next as Gunvalson couldn't remember. 

'One of the scariest things for me was when I walked in, for some reason, Vicki decided she wanted to take a bath. 

'So she's in the bathtub with water and I walk in and she's pretty much passed out,' he said. 

'So I grabbed her, that was scary, and I grabbed her, pulled her out of the water, put her in bed.' 

Gunvalson slept for 14 hours straight before Smith grew worried and woke her up. 

'I tried to get her out of bed. She didn't know where she was,' he said. 

He then took her back to the hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. 

'She had a massive infection... it was actually sepsis, but it was pneumonia.

'The way they explained it is that when your body is fighting that big of an infection and that dangerous of an infection, your whole body attacks it,' Smith explained. 

The infection was so severe that it also impacted her brain function. 

Gunvalson said this was the first time she's ever had pneumonia and that currently, her right lung is 'compacted with junk.'

After several days in the hospital and multiple doses of steroids and antibiotics, Gunvalson was finally released. 

Since then, she has been at home resting, slowly getting better day-by-day.

Gunvalson revealed that she is still 'lethargic' and doesn't have much energy. 

"I'm having a hard time getting it [her energy] up. So that's my biggest thing,' she said. 

Following the frightening health battle, Gunvalson praised her boyfriend's daughter for speaking up and taking her to get checked out. 

'I really believe I had guardian angels with me with Olivia and Michael and my friend Tina was there and just getting me care,' she said.

'I couldn't do it myself. So I think I have a little bit of trauma from it. I cry a lot and Michael keeps saying, "Why do you keep crying?" And I don't have an answer.' 

Gray, who got choked up several times during the episode, explained how worried he was for her. 

'Seeing Vicki go through this in the last week has been nothing short of devastating. And terrifying.

'Every time I felt I had an understanding of what happened, I'd learn another detail and be immediately sent back to shock when realizing just how close we came to losing Vicki,' Gray said.

In early August, Gunvalson took to her Instagram and shared beautiful memories with Smith and her son Mike during their trip to Europe. 

Prior to that, Gunvalson found herself in the middle of a financial elder abuse lawsuit filed against her by her one-time client of her Coto Insurance & Financial Services firm. 

Following a lawsuit  from 74-year-old Diane Field against the reality TV star, and her business partner Ali Hashemian, Gunvalson said she was 'outraged by the false allegations being made against her' in a statement to Page Six. 

'Victoria Gunvalson is a well-respected insurance broker with more than 34 years of experience. She has helped thousands of clients,' the statement read. 

It added that Gunvalson 'followed the direction of her client' by 'placing the insurance product Ms. Field requested regarding the annuities and the life insurance policy.' 

'Ms. Gunvalson vehemently denies each and every allegation of Diane Field’s Complaint against Ms. Gunvalson and Coto Insurance Services.'

'Ms. Gunvalson did not engage in any conduct that could be considered financial elder abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, or fraud.'

'Victoria Gunvalson remains committed to the highest standards of integrity and transparency,' the statement went on. 

Field said in legal docs reviewed by Page Six that Gunvalson and Hashemian misled her amid a series of financial dealings.

Field filed the lawsuit this past May at Superior Court of California in Orange County, according to the outlet.