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The Daily Dish The Real Housewives of New York City

Bethenny Frankel Reveals the Cause of Her Health Scare

The #RHONY mogul opens up about the "brutal" surgery she underwent last month.

By Laura Rosenfeld
Bethenny Frankel Gets a Wakeup Call

Ever since The Real Housewives of New York City Season 8 trailer dropped (clip above), fans have been concerned about Bethenny Frankel's health. We got a glimpse into the Skinnygirl mogul's health scare during last week's episode of RHONY as Bethenny described her unusual bleeding and fatigue to Luann de Lesseps. And in Wednesday night's episode, Bethenny will experience another scary moment when she begins to bleed while out shopping.

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Bethenny revealed that large fibroids were causing the excessive bleeding during an interview with Lara Spencer on Good Morning America Wednesday (clip below). Doctors told Bethenny that she lost almost 10 percent of her blood and became really anemic and low on iron. "The bleeding was so excessive and I was so weak and I felt like I looked so haggard and had such black circles under my eyes that I had to take care of it and it was confusing," she said. 

Dealing with this issue while filming RHONY wasn't easy for Bethenny. "It was part of the show and it was affecting the way I was acting on the show and I was very stressed and I couldn't hear something that Luann was talking about," she told Lara. "I felt, like, zoned out because when you're iron-deficient and you've lost so much of your blood, you're just depleted, and I just felt really terrible. I was always cold. I'm still cold a lot."

In the past, Bethenny has also dealt with cysts and endometriosis. She also thinks and has been told that her fibroids caused her miscarriage a couple of years ago. 

Bethenny had surgery to remove the fibroids on May 20, after which she had to stay in the hospital for three days, and it's a six-week recovery process in total. "It's kind of brutal. I didn't realize it," Bethenny said. 

And that's even for someone who is in as good of shape as Bethenny. "I feel good. I think the way that you recover is really important, the way that you take care of yourself and drink more water," she said. "And everyone thinks because I have a brand called Skinnygirl, I'm all focused on health all the time, and I'm not. I'm stressed, I'm a mom, just like anyone else." 

Bethenny said she focused on drinking green juices and eating vegetarian and "healing" foods during her recovery. She also tapped into the expertise she picked up while studying food and healing in school. "I think that that's why the recovery has been more quick than what my doctor said," Bethenny explained. 

But even the thought of having surgery was frightening for Bethenny, as you can see in the Season 8 supertease. "I definitely had a lot of anxiety just as a mother just going under and having to have a living will. It was very stressful," she explained.

And, yes, Bethenny's castmates helped her get through this difficult time as well. "I'm not really good at being the patient, the victim, the weak one, and so it was challenging on the show," she said. "And some of the girls were really supportive. It was really amazing."

Bethenny also lost some weight while dealing with this health issue, and she now has to see what happens when she starts menstruating again, but all in all she's doing well. "I feel better, I'm happy, and I'm glad it's over," she said.

In fact, Bethenny said her life is in a better place than it has been in quite some time. "The rest of my life is really good. I feel happier than I have in such a long time. I've had such a difficult road in certain areas. I'm so blessed with my daughter and my career, but I've had a difficult couple of years, and my personal life is really good," she explained. "I feel like I'm coming out on the other side."

Bethenny's new lease on life is easy to see in the hilarious clip, below.

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