Credit: Instagram
Fans of The Real Housewives of Orange County were devastated when it was recently revealed that alum Jeana Keough, 70, was diagnosed with cancer.
While her family started a GoFundMe to help with expenses, a recent update provided by her daughter, Kara Keough Bosworth, makes it sound like Jeana’s battle with the horrific disease is continuing to be a difficult one.
“Right now, Jeana isn’t talking,” Kara heartbreakingly shared. “The tongue and throat pain, paired with the mucus from the radiation on the area, is just brutal.”
Kara added that Jeana “has to spit into tissues all day.”
She also thanked a brand called Blow Tissues, who sent Jeana some of their product. Kara claimed her mom “never needed a delivery more.”
The GoFundMe page describes Jeana’s cancer battle:
“A few months ago, while visiting Shane and me in Florida, my mom mentioned a painful spot on her tongue. She assumed a tooth had been rubbing against it and had even gone to the dentist multiple times to have the tooth filed down. I asked her how long the sore had been there. She paused, thought about it, and realized it had been nearly a year. A biopsy confirmed our worst fear: squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
After surgery to remove the cancer, we were hopeful that the hardest part was behind her. But when doctors recommended a second surgery to remove lymph nodes, they discovered the cancer had spread. What we thought would be a one-time surgery became a full cancer battle. Jeana is now in her fifth week of chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. The treatments are relentless. She is exhausted, struggling to stay awake, and becoming malnourished because the pain in her tongue and throat makes swallowing even the smallest bites or sips incredibly difficult. Every day is a battle just to get enough nutrition and hydration to continue treatment.”
After the initial cancer news was revealed, Kara shared another update on her mom.
“It’s tough to field all the questions individually – because so many folks love and care about Mama Jeans, so updating friends and family here,” she stated on Instagram on July 21.
“Jeana was scheduled to get the G-tube this morning so she can get some nutrition. She hasn’t been able to eat a meal for 2 weeks, so she’s extremely depleted,” she continued. “We uncovered a DVT clot in her leg, and now an infection, too. The feeding tube can’t be put directly into her stomach until there’s clarity on the infection. Chemo and radiation is temporarily paused so we can figure this out.”
Kara noted that Jeana insisted the fever was “fake” and that she was fine to go for surgery, while also asking for prayers.
“Prayer needs: that this infection clears quickly, that she can get the G-tube surgery imminently so that hangry Jeana doesn’t murder someone, and that we can quickly resume treatment so that this torment can be put in the rear view mirror,” she added.