Brandi Glanville is going under the knife in hopes of getting to the bottom of her mysterious facial disfigurement.
“Something is in my face, eating it. I know they’re going to find that out when they go in there,” the RHOBH alum, 53, told listeners on the Thursday, October 8, episode of her “Brandi Glanville Unfiltered” podcast. “I’ve scheduled exploratory surgery in a couple weeks. I have two appointments this week. I am so excited. These past four years, I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
Glanville initially suspected she may have a facial parasite when she first exhibited signs of disfigurement in 2023. More recently, she was diagnosed with a “highly resistant ESBL Klebsiella and Enterobacter with biofilm, Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Demodex dermatitis and Mononucleosis” after spending more than $113,000 on treatment options.
“[The surgeons] are going to go in and see [what happened],” she told podcast cohost James Maas, admitting later in the episode, “I just get scared. Surgery scares me.”
Glanville explained that the surgery will involve “balloons” being inserted into her Eustachian tubes, which are channels of bone and cartilage that connect the ear to the nose and upper throat.
“They’re going to clear that out so everything can drain,” she noted. “I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of worm living in my face but they said it’s a fungus. Funguses are alive as well and it’s going down my body. … I’m excited to just get my life back.”
During a recent medical appointment, Glanville told her doctor that she doesn’t “feel like my neck is a part of my body.” (The star described feeling as if she had “a thick neck with a Beetlejuice head” while watching her recent stint on Special Forces.)
“[They told me] there’s a whole extra piece here. … It’s like something made a cove for itself. It’s so crazy,” she noted.
Glanville’s friend, Gina Rodriguez, started a GoFundMe page to help pay for the podcaster’s medical requirements in September — and the campaign has already raised more than $23,000 as of publication. The reality star received financial support from fellow Housewives Kyle Richards, Vicki Gunvalson and Claudia Jordan, as well as medical guidance from former RHOBH costar Yolanda Hadid.
“Yolanda’s been very helpful, and she’s hooked me up with some doctors,” Brandi confirmed to podcast listeners in September. “It’s just spending, spending, spending. If I had her bank account, it would be different.”
At the time, Gunvalson, 64, exclusively told Us that she felt compelled to support Glanville just as she’d done for her longtime RHOC costar Jeana Keough, who is battling tongue cancer.
“As I donated to Jeana Keough, I did for Brandi,” the “OG of the OC” explained to Us on September 17. “It breaks my heart that both of them who have been used to working to provide for themselves, are not able to at this time. I wish Brandi continued healing.”
Glanville released a separate statement on September 12 to thank everyone who donated or spread the word about her GoFundMe appeal.
“I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the love and support,” the Celebrity Big Brother alum wrote via her Instagram Stories. “Thank you to every single person who has donated, shared my GoFundMe, checked on me, prayed for me or sent me love.”
Glanville added, “Asking for help isn’t easy for me, but knowing I have so many people in my corner means more than I can ever explain. I still have a long road ahead, but you’re helping me keep fighting. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. I love you guys.”
