Valerie Bertinelli says she’s lucky to have survived breast surgery infection
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Valerie Bertinelli says she is “lucky to be alive” after suffering a serious infection following breast augmentation surgery.
The 65-year-old wrote in her new memoir, “Being Naked,” that she always hated her naturally small breasts and decided to get implants in the 1980s.
While she wanted a modest change in her cleavage, she somehow got more dramatic results than she intended.
“After I got the implants, I never showed them off. In fact, I tried to hide them out of shame for doing so,” she wrote.
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Valerie Bertinelli says she was lucky to survive breast reduction surgery after contracting an infection. (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
When she filmed the final episode of “Hot in Cleveland,” which aired in 2015, she said her implants were painful and hurt her back.
“Something had to be done,” he wrote.
Bertinelli said he wanted to consult a doctor about the procedure but put it off until he fell down the stairs.
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“Getting Naked” was released on March 10. (HarperCollins)
He said he and his wife went to his son’s room to wake him up for a radio interview.
“I rang his phone and he ran after me. I ran down the stairs, tripped and fell on my right breast,” Bertinelli said. “I heard an explosion. I knew exactly what it was.”
Six weeks later, he had surgery to remove his old implants and replace them with smaller ones.
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And for the first two weeks, “everything was great.”
The actress said that her fever rose to 104 degrees after breast reduction surgery. (Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
But after a week, she began to become discolored and swollen, and felt “dizzy.” At night my fever would go up to 104 degrees.
He said he was “really sick” on Monday. “The doctor saw me that morning. From the look on his face, I knew I was in trouble,” he said.
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Calling it an emergency, his doctor immediately sent him to an aftercare clinic for intravenous antibiotic treatment.
The next morning, he was taken into surgery again to get his new implant and remove the infection.
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She said she was “sad” to have to miss the Jon Bon Jovi tribute concert where her son was playing after his second surgery, but she, her daughter-in-law and her brother convinced her to stay home and rest.
Valerie Bertinelli in 1980. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“The deranged looks they gave me all said the same thing: ‘What part of nearly dying from an infection don’t you understand?'” he wrote.
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Bertinelli said he had to go to the doctor’s office every day so his wound could be cleaned and rewound with antibiotic ointments and bandages.
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Bertinelli said she always hated her breasts before getting implants. (Harry Langdon/Getty Images)
Seven months after his first surgery, he had a third surgery to install a replacement implant.
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She said that after the surgery, her breasts were two different sizes because the implant on her left side was over the muscles, and “my right side was sad and shapeless.”
At one point she said she was going to have a fourth surgery to equalize her breasts, but after so many surgeries, she decided to wait.
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“I’ll eventually apply for Medicare and my perky new breasts will be ready for high school prom,” she joked.
He added: “One morning, I walked outside in my backyard. Bandaged but collected, I took small steps through my yard. I looked at the flowers and trees, standing tall and short, reaching and branching, all magnificent but no two alike. Each unique in its own beauty. No shape, color or pattern was exactly the same. That’s how Mother Nature works. When we’re not blind to her genius, if we’re not questioning or trying to trick her, the answers to our questions are right in front of us.”
“Getting Naked” was released on March 10.
