Joe Manganiello shares raw hospital photos from his seven-year illness

Joe Manganiello is letting fans see just how rough his long health ordeal got, sharing a set of hospital photos that are not easy to look at.

Down 60 pounds

The first image shows the actor sitting up in a hospital room, wired to a number of machines and looking far thinner than usual.

In the caption Manganiello said the weight fell off fast after his surgery: 60 pounds in just two weeks. He also noted that a sharp-eyed viewer can spot part of his ostomy bag in the frame.

Not for the squeamish

The next picture is more graphic. It shows the surgical wounds across his belly after doctors took out the ostomy bag and reconnected his digestive tract, including an open wound that is still bloody.

The final shot is a close-up of his face covered in red spots. Manganiello wrote that his skin went through a long list of problems during the seven years he was sick.

He called his skin an immune organ and said it was hit with nearly every condition imaginable, often several at the same time.

A close call

Manganiello revealed in his new memoir "Bloodlines" that the mystery illness came close to killing him.