How A Routine Surgery Almost Ended In Disaster For HGTV's Tarek El Moussa
Tarek El Moussa, former co-host of HGTV fan-favorite "Flip or Flop," got very candid in his book, "Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business, and Life." He detailed how he struggled with addiction, went through a divorce, and faced some serious health scares. In 2013, the celeb received both testicular and thyroid cancer diagnoses, which sounds quite scary. However, El Moussa completed the recommended course of treatment and is now in remission.
Unfortunately, cancer wasn't even the most frightening medical condition he would face. Nearly nine months after getting a clean bill of health post-cancer surgery and radioactive iodine treatment, the father of three slipped discs in the lower portion of his spine, resulting in the pinching of his sciatic nerve. The condition can be extremely painful and make it difficult to complete most, if not all, daily activities. After having to drastically increase how many painkillers he was taking each day, El Moussa decided to undergo surgery on his back.
Once again, the doctors gave him the all-clear and sent him home post-operation. But, as El Moussa explained to People, "The catheter they had inserted at the hospital caused my urethra to close up. It should have been checked before I was sent home, but it wasn't. My urethra had swollen shut." As a result, he had an extreme backup of fluid in his body. "No matter what I did, I couldn't get relief. I couldn't go to the bathroom," he confesses.
His recovery was disastrous
Unable to go to the bathroom, Tarek El Moussa was in serious pain. However, there was another aspect of not being able to urinate that he had not considered. According to Piedmont Healthcare, "holding urine for too long can lead to a bladder rupture," although it is rare. "The Flipping El Moussas" star admitted, "By 6:30 in the morning, I hadn't slept all night, and I was screaming. It was obvious that my bladder was about to explode ... Realizing I could actually die, I grabbed my phone and called 911."
An ambulance was able to swiftly transport him to the hospital, where doctors confirmed his swollen urethra resulted in no fluids being able to pass out of his body. The complete blockage was fortunately fixed, but El Moussa wasn't sent home as quickly this time. It would be another week of recovery in the hospital, reportedly the result of complications, before the HGTV familiar was discharged.
He told People how the bladder issue was the final straw in a long line of health frustrations, beginning with his testicular and thyroid cancer diagnoses in 2013. "I had that awful surgery with complications. So for four years, I just lived through hell," he confessed. In his book, he also noted how he faced mental struggles, too, like a steroid addiction fueled by his painful back injury. However, it seems like the author has returned to good health on all fronts and is back filming and spending time with his family.
He's prioritizing his kids
Tarek El Moussa is now prioritizing his kids after focusing on getting himself healthy, physically and mentally. He shares two children, Taylor and Brayden, with his first wife, Christina Hall, and a third, Tristan, with his second wife, Heather Rae El Moussa. Before his health scares, El Moussa readily admits he wasn't a great dad. And, as painful as your bladder nearly exploding sounds, he confessed to E! News that it paled in comparison to his familial struggles, "Every single thing that upset me, every single thing that stressed me out, meant nothing. The pain of losing my family was so much greater."
Post-divorce from Hall, El Moussa had to step up to the plate, which he did after recovering. He revealed that when he was initially on his own with his daughter Taylor, something foreign to him, he was floored, "I'm doing bath time and I'm combing her hair, and I'll never forget just crying. Because it was a defining moment of realizing what I had been missing ... " He continues to say that recently, "I've been the absolute best dad possible."
The "Flipping 101" star admits that his relationship with Hall is better, too. It certainly seems like El Moussa went from the lowest of lows to having it all. He's frequently with his kids; even Hall and Heather Rae have been spotted out and about as a blended family. El Moussa's life appears to be full — in a good, non-bursting type of way.