'Basketball Wives LA' Season 3 Cast Member Brandi Maxiell Opens Up About Cancer Struggle and 'Catty Women' [VIDEO]
New Basketball Wives L.A. star Brandi Maxiell has opened up about her previous struggle with ovarian cancer and working with "catty women" on the VH1 reality TV show.
Maxiell, who is married to Orlando Magic forward Jason Maxiell, revealed to Life and Style magazine in a recent interview that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, when she was only 24 years old. She had just recently become engaged to her now husband and planned on living in Detroit to "have a lifetime of fun."
"Literally three weeks of me living in Detroit, I started to feel all these symptoms and my life went for a turn," she said.
She quickly underwent chemotherapy treatments which caused her to lose her hair and lots of weight, to the point that she didn't recognize herself.
"Besides the losing of the hair, I was so sick! You know, it's like poison going through my body, so I couldn't move...I was just devastated. I just wanted to shave my hair off at the the beginning because I knew it was going to come out," she said.
Maxiell added that she even lost her eyebrows and nose hair, which made her self-conscious as a woman. She said her mother had to cover up mirrors in her home to stop her from looking at herself.
While she initially thought her cancer diagnosis was a "death sentence," she coped with it, got the surgery and credits God for her health. She also said her husband played a major part in helping her heal.
"I think me having cancer brought me closer to God because I think I was kind of losing my way a little bit. Jason visited me every week in Dallas [where I received treatment]. He shaved his hair off and I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' Those are like the moments I remember," she said.
Maxiell now shares her story and struggle with ovarian cancer on Basketball Wives LA. In new episodes she opens up about her journey of having another child. She and Jason are parents to Jason, 2. While she shares much of her personal life on the reality show, she said she definitely doesn't get along with all of the women.
"The downside of the show is dealing with these catty women. I didn't like that because it brought me down occasionally to their level. I know on a reality show like you have to have drama, you have to have something to keep it interesting, but this was a struggle to just deal with how to balance it all," she said.
Basketball Wives LA airs Monday nights on VH1 at 8/7c.
