Vicki Gunvalson Reveals Daughter Briana Culberson Almost Had to Have Her Leg Amputated
The RHOC mom discusses Briana's health scare and gives an update on her lupus diagnosis.
Every Thursday, BravoTV.com digital producers Megan Segura and Rachael Roberts are bringing you exclusive interviews with Bravolebs like Vicki Gunvalson, NeNe Leakes, and Stassi Schroeder, plus expert commentary and behind-the-scenes secrets straight from Bravo execs. Listen, like, and subscribe to The Daily Dish on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play, and make yourself part of the conversation by tweeting us @Bravotv with the hashtag #BravoDailyDish.
Briana Culberson has been on every season of The Real Housewives of Orange County — until now. Mom Vicki Gunvalson recently stated that Briana would not be appearing in the opening credits for Season 13 due to her cross-country move. (Briana, husband Ryan Culberson, and sons, Troy and Owen, moved to North Carolina in November 2017.) While not seeing Briana on RHOC is the end of an era (at least for this season), Vicki revealed that she has been out to see Briana three times since they moved and Briana is coming to visit as well, but that it's been difficult to have Briana live so far away, given the complications with her health she's dealt with over the years and her lupus diagnosis. She gave an update on Briana's health in an interview with The Daily Dish podcast.
"She has lupus. We almost lost her a couple years ago. That was one of the biggest fears I had in my life while I was filming; it's my 'Oh, my God' moment. And she was super, super sick; got a very, very bad infectious disease from the hospital. They almost amputated her leg ... she was extremely sick. Put her in City of Hope [National Medical Center] and she was there in isolation for a month. The viewers don't know but we can share it now 'cause she survived it. But it was horrible," said Vicki.
Despite these challenges, the RHOC mom can find a silver lining for Briana's health in her cross-country move: "Now she's being treated for lupus out in University of North Carolina [Medical Center], which is actually where she works. She's an ER trauma nurse. They've got a great lupus center out there. So if God brought her out there to help her get through this, that was the good thing from it."
Hear more about Briana and her family's life in North Carolina in the podcast episode above and don't forget to watch RHOC every Monday at 9/8c. Check out a preview, below.
