Valerie Bertinelli says she was ‘lucky to have survived’ severe post-surgery infection
Valerie Bertinelli says she’s "lucky to have survived" after she got a serious infection following a breast augmentation surgery.
The 65-year-old wrote in her new memoir, "Getting Naked," that she always hated her naturally small breasts and decided to get implants in the 1980s.
While she wanted a modest change to her cleavage, somehow she ended up with results more dramatic than she intended.
"After I got the implants, I never put them on display. I tried to hide them even, embarrassed that I had done it," she wrote.
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She said by the time she taped her last episode of "Hot in Cleveland," which aired in 2015, her implants were painful and made her back hurt.
"Something had to be done," she wrote.
Bertinelli said she meant to consult a doctor about the procedure, but ended up putting it off until she fell down the stairs.
She said she went into her son’s room with his wife at his house to wake him up for a radio interview.
"I stole his phone, and he chased after me. I sprinted down the stairs, tripped, and landed on my right boob," Bertinelli explained. "I heard a pop. I knew exactly what had happened."
She had the surgery, in which her old implants were removed, and smaller ones were put in, six weeks later.
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And for the first two weeks, "everything was great."
But a week later, she began experiencing discoloration, swelling, and she felt herself "getting dizzy. By nighttime, I was running a fever," which went up to 104 degrees.
By Monday, she said she "was really sick." "The doctor saw me that morning. I could tell by the look on his face that I was in trouble," she said.
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Calling it an emergency, her doctor immediately sent her to an aftercare clinic for intravenous antibiotics.
The next morning, she was back in surgery to have her new implant and the infection removed.
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After her second surgery, she said she was "bummed" to have to miss a Jon Bon Jovi tribute concert her son was playing in, but he, her daughter-in-law and brother persuaded her to stay home and rest.
"The have-you-lost-your-mind looks they gave me all said the same thing: ‘What part about almost dying from an infection don’t you get?’" she wrote.
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Bertinelli said she had to go to the doctor’s office every day, so her wound could be cleaned and repacked with antibiotic ointments and bandages.
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Seven months after her first surgery, she had a third one to install a replacement implant.
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After that surgery, she said her boobs were two different sizes because the implant on her left side is over the muscle, "and my right side is sad and misshapen."
At some point, she said she'd have a fourth operation to even out her breasts, but she decided to wait after so many surgeries.
"Eventually, I’ll be on Medicare and my perky new boobs will be ready for the high school prom," she joked.
She added, "One morning, I walked outside in my backyard. Bandaged but on the rebound, I took baby steps through my garden. I looked at the flowers and the trees, standing tall and short, reaching up and branching out, all gorgeous, but none alike. Every single one was unique in its beauty. No one shape, color, or pattern exactly alike. That’s the way Mother Nature works. When we aren’t blind to her genius, if we aren’t questioning her or trying to fool her, her answers to our questions are right in front of us."
"Getting Naked" was released on March 10.