RHOC star Vicki Gunvalson reveals she had a 'deadly' infection: 'I had a 10 to 20 percent [chance of] survival'

The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Vicki Gunvalson is opening up about how a recent infection could have turned deadly when she experienced stroke-like symptoms due to pneumonia that turned into sepsis. 

Gunvalson, 62, was diagnosed with a sinus infection before embarking on a family vacation to Europe in early August. She was prescribed antibiotics, but upon her return home she suddenly experienced amnesia and symptoms that resembled a stroke. She sought treatment twice, and during the second trip to the hospital is when they realized the infection had become potentially deadly.

Now resting at home, Gunvalson is recalling the chilling diagnosis a medical professional ultimately delivered about her condition on the latest episode of her podcast My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast.

"I said, did I hear this right that I had a 10 to 20 percent [chance of] survival?" the former Bravo star shares, recalling a conversation she had with a medical professional. That's when she learned, "Yes, the sepsis that went to your body is deadly and you survived it. And so you're going to be okay. It's just going to take a while."

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Most people recover from mild sepsis, but the mortality rate for septic shock is about 30 percent to 40 percent. Also, an episode of severe sepsis raises the risk for future infections."

How did a sinus infection spiral into a potentially life-threatening condition? Gunvalson remembers being at the hair salon last Thursday, which is when, "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 [Smith] 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 recounts. Her client, a retired ER physician, thought Gunvalson could possibly be having a stroke. That's when Smith's daughter immediately took Gunvalson to the hospital and called her father, who was out of town at the time.

At that point, Gunvalson says she was "misdiagnosed" and treated for a sinus infection. She was sent home — and that's when her condition could have turned deadly. When Smith finally arrived at Gunvalson's house, he found her unconscious in a bathtub filled with water.  

"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," Smith says, rattled because Gunvalson could have drowned. "So I grabbed her, that was scary, and I grabbed her, pulled her out of the water, put her in bed."

Gunvalson slept for close to 14 hours, which is when Smith realized something was terribly wrong. "I tried to get her out of bed," he recalls. "She didn't know where she was." Alarmed, Smith rushed Gunvalson back to the hospital, which is when she was admitted and diagnosed with pneumonia.

"She had a massive infection... it was actually sepsis, but it was pneumonia," he says. "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." The infection also impacted her brain function.

"So I have pneumonia, which I've never had pneumonia in my life. My right lung is pretty compacted with junk," Gunvalson notes, adding that she's still "lethargic. Just don't have energy."

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After being pumped with antibiotics and steroids and under watchful care at the hospital for several days, Gunvalson was released. However, she's still not completely out of the woods. "I'm having a hard time getting it up. So that's my biggest thing," Gunvalson says, admitting she's still very weak.

The OG of the OC credits Smith's daughter for saving her life. "I really believe I had guardian angels with me with Olivia and Michael and my friend Tina was there and just getting me care," Gunvalson notes. "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." 

Gunvalson's podcast cohost Christian Gray Snow tells Entertainment Weekly, "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."

Her podcast producer Pat Safford, who is also the director of Hurrdat Media, described it as a "scary" situation, adding, "Everyone at Hurrdat Media and I are praying for Vicki and her family and are very grateful she's going to be okay. We love Vicki!"