Kara Bosworth has revealed her mother Jeana Keough is struggling with severe complications from an aggressive tongue cancer regimen.
Bosworth, 37, said on Wednesday that the “Real Housewives of Orange County” alum, 71, remains unable to eat more than a few bites by mouth and relies on a feeding tube for her primary nutrition. The Florida resident had just wrapped a week-long visit with Keough in Southern California before speaking out.
“Mom’s struggling. She’s still not getting nutrition orally except maybe a few bites and then she gets frustrated with the effort and the lack of taste,” Bosworth said.
Bosworth added that Keough is experiencing deep regret about her treatment decisions. “I think she just wishes she didn’t do any treatment. [It’s been] very hard. She still is sleeping a lot and having a lot of coughing fits that cause her to vomit,” she continued.
The daughter noted Keough is now doing speech and swallow therapy twice weekly, though recovery remains distant. “We still have a long way to go,” Bosworth said.
Keough first revealed her diagnosis in mid-July, though the cancer’s origins trace back to last year when she developed a painful sore on her tongue. Her dentist repeatedly insisted the issue stemmed from a sharp tooth requiring filing, she previously said. After multiple unsuccessful dental visits, Bosworth pushed her mother to seek an ear, nose and throat specialist.
“That doctor took one look in my mouth and said, ‘That’s cancer,'” Keough recalled in an earlier interview, noting the biopsy that followed confirmed the diagnosis.
Since then, Keough has endured a grueling medical course: tongue dissection, feeding tube surgery, neck dissection to remove dozens of lymph nodes, radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The treatment cascade brought additional crises — hospitalization for malnourishment and dehydration, plus a deep vein thrombosis blood clot and leg infection requiring simultaneous care.
In late July, Keough communicated via email that she expected to need the feeding tube for two to six months. She also disclosed a 40 to 60 percent cure rate projection within the next five years. At that point, she remained unable to speak.
Bosworth has been vocal about her belief that the diagnosis came too late. She and her brothers — Shane Keough, 40, and Colton Keough, 34 — feel their mother could have and should have received earlier detection, she has said.
The former Bravolebrity’s condition has resonated deeply with viewers who followed her five-season run on the Bravo franchise beginning in 2006. Her medical journey has since drawn significant attention from the RHOC fanbase, with a GoFundMe established to support her care raising over $15,000.
Keough’s case highlights the critical importance of persistent medical advocacy, as her daughter’s insistence on the ENT referral ultimately led to the cancer discovery after months of misattributed symptoms.
Keough continues her twice-weekly therapy sessions as she confronts the long recovery ahead.