‘Botched’ Star Terry Dubrow Reveals How Wife Heather Dubrow Saved His Life
Plastic surgeon Terry Dubrow, who co-hosts the E! reality series Botched, has opened up about suffering a ministroke and how his wife, Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow, saved his life.
Speaking to ETOnline, Terry recalled the moment the ministroke happened and how he initially refused to go to the hospital despite Heather’s insistence.
“So we were at the Ivy, my favorite restaurant, the place actually that Heather and I met, and where we have all of our wedding anniversaries, and we’re there with my son [Nicholas],” he explained, noting how he started to have trouble speaking during the dinner.
Heather began to panic and told Nicholas to call 911, but Terry was adamant that he was fine.
“I said, ‘Do not call 911!’ And within, I don’t know, a minute, it was already over. And so we got into an argument,” he recalled. “I said, ‘You are embarrassing me; stop this!’ It had already been resolved. And she goes, ‘Nope, call 911.”
“My perception was not what she had observed, and that is one of the key messages,” Terry continued. “What you may be experiencing, in terms of stroke-like symptoms, may be very different than what others are seeing.”
Terry sat with the EMTs once they arrived at the restaurant but stated that he was feeling okay. Those around him encouraged him to go to the hospital to get checked out, but this just made him angrier. Looking back now, Terry said he was acting like “a belligerent idiot.”
After storming off, Terry called an Uber to take him home. But after calling some of his physician friends, the plastic surgeon changed his mind. “They said, ‘Terry if you’re not gonna do it for you, do it for your family. Just go to the hospital for your family,'” he remembered.
The doctors performed tests and determined that he had a transient ischaemic attack (TIA). They also discovered he had a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a small hole in the heart in which a blood clot passed through, traveling to his brain and causing the TIA.
“If it weren’t for my wife’s insistence… I mean, let’s face it, most doctors’ wives would go, ‘Hey, you’re a doctor. I’m gonna listen to you.’ I would have gone home,” Terry stated. “I would have gone right to bed. I may have died in my sleep. I may have had a terrible stroke… Heather Dubrow saved my life. I mean, that is not an exaggeration.”
Terry also posted on Instagram about the scare, writing, “Listen to your partner. What you perceive may be different than what they are observing. Seconds may mean the difference between life and death. I love you @heatherdubrow.”
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Heather also posted her own Instagram statement, urging people to take loved ones to the hospital if they’re suffering from stroke-like symptoms.
“I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to the doctors, nurses and techs at Hoag Hospital and everyone involved who helped us during this very scary time,” Heather wrote. “Thank you for your kind messages, Terry and I are overwhelmed by your love and support.”
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