‘RHORI’s Kelsey Swanson’s Health Issues: Her Brain Tumor & More

Kelsey Swanson has made a splash as one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island. Viewers have already been taken inside her life with her much older boyfriend who spends half the year in Miami with another woman, and in more recent episodes, she documented her decision to end the relationship after a decade.

After deciding to call it quits with her rich boyfriend, Kelsey revealed that he was still paying for her new apartment, car, and health insurance. The latter was likely a non-negotiable, as Kelsey has dealt with some harrowing health issues in the past.

Kelsey previously opened up about her health struggles after winning Miss Rhode Island 2017. Scroll down for everything we know.

What happened to Kelsey Swanson?

In 2014, Kelsey was involved in a car accident. “I was a passenger in a car that was hit by a drunk driver,” she said in a Miss USA video. Kelsey was sitting in the back seat of the vehicle, but hit her head on the dashboard after being thrown forward in the crash, per the University of Rhode Island’s Rhody Today.

Although Kelsey was fine at the scene of the accident, she decided to see a doctor and get an X-ray out of an abundance of caution. It was during that visit that her doctor made a shocking discovery.

What was Kelsey Swanson diagnosed with?

“My neurologist found a brain tumor that I never knew I had,” Kelsey shared. The dime-sized tumor was on her pituitary gland, and since it was pressing on her optic nerves, she was warned that she’d go blind if it wasn’t removed.

Since the tumor was benign, doctors allowed Kelsey to continue her pageant dreams, so long as she did not have any symptoms. She was named runner-up in Miss Rhode Island 2015, then had the procedure a few months later. It took four hours.

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“They didn’t have to cut open my head,” Kelsey shared, explaining that doctors were able to enter through her nose to remove the tumor. However, she dealt with “headaches and fatigue” in the aftermath.

How is Kelsey Swanson doing today?

In her 2017 video, Kelsey confirmed she was in “perfect health.” The tumor does have a 7% chance of growing back, but she has been able to live a normal life since having the surgery in 2015.

The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Season 1, Sundays, 9/8c, Bravo