Botched star saved by wife after suffering mini-stroke caused by hole in heart

09 August 2023 , 22:00

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Terry's wife Heather noticed something was wrong with her husband at dinner (Image: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)

Plastic surgeon and star of Botched Terry Dubrow has revealed he suffered a miniature stroke from a hole in his heart and only sought medical attention because his wife told him to.

One of the stars of the show Botched was eating dinner with his wife Heather and their son when he began to slur his speech. According to Heather, it lasted 'less than a minute' but it bothered her enough for her to ask their son to call 911. Terry was seen by paramedics, who checked him out and gave him the all-clear. But Heather was not convinced.

The Botched doctor refused to go to the hospital, and "hopped out" of the ambulance insisting he was "fine." He took an Uber home, but during the ride, his friends called him, at Heather's request, and finally convinced him to go to the hospital. And it was a good thing he did, as the doctors found he suffered from a transient ischemic attack or TIA. The TIA caused a temporary lack of blood to go to the brain, causing dizziness, confusion, tingling, and numbness - which could have led to him slurring his speech in the restaurant.

A hole in his heart caused the miniature stroke (Getty Images)

Doctors also found a patent foramen ovale, or PFO, which is a hole in Terry's heart that didn't close properly in his infancy. The hole was located between the upper heart chambers, and is a small flaplike opening. Doctors believe a blood clot passed through this hole, up to his brain, and caused the TIA.

Thankfully, Terry had a full recovery and doctors were able to fix the hole. If left untreated, Terry could have had a full stroke and its unknown what would have happened to the 64-year-old.

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Terry is best known as a surgeon on Botched (Casey Durkin/E! Entertainment via Getty Images)

Terry and Heather have both starred in separate reality shows. Terry is known for helping fix surgeries gone wrong on Botched with fellow doctor Paul Nassif since the show aired in 2014. Heather has appeared in various seasons of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The two have been married since 1999 and have four children together.

An Instagram account that shares celebrity gossip, DeuxMoi, shared on its page that Terry had cheated on Heather recently. The real housewife was quick to squash the rumours, writing in the comments: "This is not true, on any level."

Tatiana Krisztina