Candiace Dillard Bassett has offered more details about her 2024 postpartum health scare.
Days after giving birth to her son, Jett Maxwell Lee Bassett, The Real Housewives of Potomac alum began experiencing a “high fever and excruciating pain” in her lower abdomen. Candiace said she initially had “no idea” what was causing her symptoms, but they became so severe that she decided to inform her dad, Dr. Walter Dillard.
“I was just out of it,” she recalled during a recent appearance on Reality with the King. “My dad is a physician… He happened to call to check in, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m having these pains.’ It was so bad I could not function without doubling up on prescription Tylenol and Advil, just to be able to sit up.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett gets diagnosed with an ovarian blood clot
The Real Housewives of Potomac alum said her dad urged her to go to the emergency room, which immediately signaled to Candiace that her condition could be serious. She told the podcast host, Carlos King, that she went to the hospital, received a CT scan, and waited for the results.
“They called me the next day,” she continued. “And when they call, you know it’s, like, ‘OK, ring the alarms’ because, usually, they just send [the results] in an email.”
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A hospital staffer then informed Candiace she had a blood clot in her ovaries and needed to take anticoagulant shots, aka blood thinners, for 10 weeks. Although she had to administer the medication herself, Candiace said she became pretty comfortable with syringes after her fertility journey.
“Thank God I had already done IVF shots, hormones,” The Traitors Season 4 contestant said. “I was a pro at it. I hated needles, but I knew how to do it because I did this 100 times just to get the baby here… I had to do that every day for 10 weeks.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett on her health scare: “Women die from what I had”
The health emergency also took a heavy toll on Candiace’s mental state. As she continued her medical treatment, the former pageant queen began “grappling with [her] mortality.” She said several of her relatives knew of women who had died from postpartum blood clots.
“I had just had a baby, and I could die? And Jett wouldn’t even know me?” she recalled thinking to herself. “It was the wildest mind-f–k of life… I could’ve died. Women die from what I had, yes.”
Candiace said the blood clot came as quite a surprise, as she had the “best doctors,” the “best medical care,” and prioritized her health throughout her pregnancy. She told the host her physicians closely monitored her while she was carrying because she had a geriatric IVF pregnancy.
“I was healthy,” she insisted.
What caused Candiace Dillard Bassett’s blood clot?
Candiace said doctors never determined the cause of her blood clot, but they had theories.
“There was speculation that because part of my placenta — it’s supposed to detach naturally — and part of it didn’t detach,” she explained. “They think maybe it was something to do with that, but I don’t know. I never went back and investigated why… I was just happy to go get rescanned and find out the clot [was] resolved.”
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Candiace went on to encourage listeners to pay attention to their symptoms and get checked out if there’s any cause for concern.
“It’s really about listening to your body,” she said. “Your body will tell you.”
Get the latest on Candiace’s motherhood journey, including her holiday celebrations with baby Jett and her husband, Chris Bassett.
