Vicki Gunvalson Pays Tribute To Lupus-Stricken Daughter Before Mother's Day

Vicki Gunvalson and her son-in-law Ryan Culberson are paying tribute to The Real Housewives of Orange County star's daughter, Briana!

They have a lot to celebrate on Mother's Day weekend as Briana recently recovered from a scare in her ongoing battle with lupus.

Just before Mother's Day, Gunvalson shared a throwback Instagram shot of Briana smiling in her nurse's garb.

The businesswoman wrote as a caption, "So proud of my beautiful daughter Briana who followed her dream 9 years ago and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in less than 4 years. Despite her recent diagnosis of lupus, relocating several times and having 2 beautiful boys she has remained passionate in her career in the ER. I love her more than words can say and am so proud of her strength. #happynursesweek #mydaughter #mybestfriend #missingheracrossthemiles"

Briana and her husband Ryan left the OC behind to move to North Carolina, as RadarOnline.com reported last year.

It broke Gunvalson's heart to have to sell the California house she'd bought for Briana, who wanted a simpler life.

But things got worse for Gunvalson -- as Briana's husband revealed earlier this year, Briana was hospitalized in her battle with lupus.

Culberson wrote back then, "Please keep my wife in your thoughts and prayers! Her lupus is causing inflammation around her heart and is causing it to go in and out of irregular heart rhythms now requiring her to have a cardiac ablation."

A Bravo blog has reported that last month, Briana had a procedure used to correct heart rhythm problems in her battle with lupus and she's now doing fine.

On Saturday, May 12, solider Culberson went on Instagram to post a wedding photo of himself with Briana to mark their vows renewal anniversary.

Culberson captioned it, "6 years ago today, Briana and I asked our family and friends to support our crazy undeniable urge to marry each other in a Vegas drive thru window in the middle of the night 7 months prior. By this time on 5.12.12, we were 4 months pregnant with Troy and discovered at our wedding that we were having a baby boy. This day was so meaningful not only because it was a beautiful celebration of our love for each other, but mostly because our friends and family supported us and loved us through our crazy love story. #vegaselopement #bacarawedding #lovemywife"