Real Housewives star Brandi Glanville has shared her frustration amid ongoing health struggles surrounding a facial parasite she contracted.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills personality posted an update to Instagram on 8 September, in which she explained that the parasite in her face has since extended to her right arm.
“It used to only be here, but over the years that it’s not been diagnosed properly, it has spread,” the 53-year-old explained. Now it goes down my right arm.”
The emotional TV star then shared further clips in which the large fungal ball could be seen on her face: “It’s hard as a rock, and it curves like this,” she said, touching the area.
“I’m so sick [of it] I just want to cut it out of my face.”
Glanville said she was finally ready to share some of her “worst moments” leading up to finally being diagnosed with what she said in the caption was “highly resistant ESBL Klebsiella and Enterobacter with biofilm, Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Demodex dermatitis and Mononucleosis”.
ESBL Klebsiella refers to a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Valley fever is a fungal infection, while the Cleveland Clinic describes Demodex as “a type of mite that lives in human hair follicles, usually on your face”.
Glanville added that she has a “fungal ball” in her face that is going to be removed along with “metals from old dental work out of my mouth, my breast implants need to come out, and I’m looking at four to six months of daily IV treatment”.
“The treatment has NOT been easy and so far I’ve had very little improvement,” she said. “I still have a couple surgeries ahead of me and months of treatment to go.
“Even with insurance, this is costing me around $3,300–$6,000 a month. I’m not able to work right now other than my podcast and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do this mentally or financially.”
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The TV personality has been open about her health struggles since July 2023, when she believed the issues were being caused by something she ate while filming the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco.
Later that year, she was diagnosed with stress-inducted angioedema, a condition that causes severe facial swelling and on which she said she spent “over $70,000” on treatment.
Earlier this year, Glanville told her followers that her facial disfigurement was being caused by a parasite from her “ruptured” 18-year-old silicone breast implants, which she claimed had caused her lymph nodes to become “clogged”.
Glanville has since had the implants removed, but maintains that the parasite stemmed from that incident.
In her latest post, she said: “I’m sharing some really bad moments and I know I don’t look good in these videos. Honestly, I don’t care. I feel terrible and this is what being sick looks like for me right now.
“So please be nice in the comments. I’m already fighting enough.”
The emotional star commented: “I just want this s*** OUT of my body. I want my health back. I want my life back. I want to feel like me again.”
Glanville said she will continue to share updates with her followers about her ordeal, including the ongoing treatments and surgeries, and “hopefully eventually the other side of this”.