Yolanda Foster opens up about battling Lyme disease

She seemingly lives a charmed life as a star on Real Housewives of Beverly hills and as mum to supermodels Bella and Gigi, but Yolanda Foster’s world changed dramatically when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012.

After being given the news, Yolanda was suffering so badly that she was, in her own words, “praying and begging to stay alive one more day for my kids.”

Four years on, and Yolanda’s condition has improved – she announced just last week that she’s in remission with an Instagram post.

But after the effect Lyme disease has had on her family (children Bella and Answar also suffer) she’s doing everything in her power to raise awareness. Just last week, at the launch of 9Honey, she compared the reach of Lyme disease to that of HIV, saying, “We all pull together so beautifully for HIV. Lyme is three times more prevalent right now, it’s a world-wide epidemic, the first case was diagnosed in 1972… yet we haven’t done anything about it.”

She appeared on A Current Affair, where she discussed the lack of awareness around the disease. Lyme disease is disputed and not accepted by many medical professionals in Australia, but Yolanda has heard from hundreds of people who believe they are suffering.

She admits that her experience has pushed her to support women more than ever, leading to a partnership with 9Honey. Speaking at the launch, she said: “What I would like to see for Honey is that it becomes a place for women to go to who are looking for a community, to be understood about health.”