Denise Richards is opening up about an "emergency procedure" she underwent to treat four hernias.
The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star took to Instagram on Tuesday to re-post a slideshow of hospital pics her husband, Aaron Phypers, shared with his followers. In his caption, Phypers alluded to Richards' health scare.
"My hubby posted this & I need to actually thank him for taking such great care of me. This was a couple months ago & turned out to be a good lesson for me to always listen to my body," Richards wrote.
The busy mom of three explained that she had been experiencing pain and other symptoms but chose to ignore the problem at first — which she admits was a mistake.
"Being a mom, wife, & having a career sometimes it’s easier to just be strong and power through, I thought the pain & my other symptoms would just go away. They did not and got a lot worse," she wrote.
"I thought I had one femoral hernia, I actually had 2 femoral & 2 inguinal. And I waited way too long & didn’t even tell my husband how bad I was feeling (I know it was stupid)," ... gotta always listen to our bodies & take care of ourselves," she added.
In his original post, Phypers shared a black-and-white photo of Richards along with a pic of her bruised abdomen at the time of the procedure and another photo of her lying in a hospital bed.
"To the most incredible woman my soulmate. I am always in awe of your Beauty perseverance, dedication in all you do," he gushed in his caption.
"These photos taken a couple of months ago from an emergency procedure femoral hernia not one but four!" he wrote, adding that he was "waiting close by" during all six hours of her procedure.
"Love you baby everyday getting stronger!" he added.