Dream Wedding Almost Ruined for Bride-To-Be as She Has Emergency Surgery 24 Hours before Special Event

It's 24 hours to her weddings, and she suddenly needs to go under the needle because of a life-threatening medical condition. Gaines shares her struggle and pain, as she feared that her dream wedding won't hold.

After dating for several years, Rhema Gaines and Eze Nnadi decided to tie the knot and finally make it official. The couple, who are from Orlando, Florida decided to do things differently by throwing two weddings for each of their families.

They concluded that the debut wedding would be a traditional Nigerian ceremony which was held on May 24 and the Western wedding on May 26.

It was finally the wedding weekend! Gaines focused on ensuring the celebration was perfect until something happened. She

to PEOPLE:

“I had come down with a flu or upper respiratory infection. I went to the ER, and they kept me for a really long time. Eventually symptoms of the infection were going away, but I was still there. They were still running scans, and I didn’t know what was going on.”

When the results came out, the doctors discovered a cyst resting on Gaines' ovaries.

In her case, it was a dermoid ovarian cyst, a benign lump that usually holds developed hair, fluid, teeth or skin glands because they form from embryonic cells, as stated by the Mayo Clinic.

The doctors were bewildered why the cyst wasn't discovered earlier during her pregnancy two years ago. Gaines, who shares a daughter with Nnadi, was also as confused.

More importantly, the medical team came up with a strategy to extract the cyst through surgery to reduce the possibility of a rupture and causing infection.

However, they assured that they can put the operation on hold till after her wedding. Gaines went home to continue with the wedding preparations until things went south. She

:

"By Tuesday I was really ill. By Wednesday I couldn’t even walk. I was hunched over, and I’m still trying to do last-minute wedding stuff.”

Later that night, Gaines was rushed into the emergency room, where the doctors realized that the melon-like cyst had burst. To save her life, the doctors had to conduct an urgent operation.

Fortunately, there were no complications. What stressed Gaines the most was the buildup to the surgery. Although she couldn't walk well yet, she was released a little while after the operation, with barely a day left to her weddings.

Gaines went home and then left for the rehearsal shortly after. She barely survived the Nigerian traditional wedding because it was primarily about dancing and she was in pain. However, with the aid of painkillers and her resolution, she survived.

In conclusion, she said:

“I’m so happy. Even though there was that black mark on the situation, it just feels really good to walk away with a legacy that we had one of the best weddings in our family, like wow, we did it. I’m so grateful that I was able to triumph.”

ANOTHER BRIDE WITH SIMILAR LAST MINUTE CHALLENGES

The likes of 24-year-old Christina Anderson, who made sure her wedding took place, despite undergoing brain surgery prior to her big day. The tumor that was discovered in the bride-to-be's brain was sized like a golf ball, as shared by NTD.

We salute these women's courage against adversity, and we wish them all the best in their separate marriages!