Botched's Terry Dubrow Says Wife Heather Saved His Life During Medical Emergency

Terry Dubrow is doing fine after suffering a recent medical emergency.

The Botched star experienced a transient ischemic attack (or TIA) while enjoying dinner in Beverly Hills with wife Heather Dubrow and their 19-year-old son Nicholas on Aug. 3, E! News confirmed.

Terry's family became worried when he briefly started slurring his speech during the meal. This prompted The Real Housewives of Orange County star to have Nicholas call 911. While paramedics said his vitals were normal, Heather wanted further testing and ultimately convinced Terry to visit the hospital. And it appears her instincts were spot on.

After conducting tests, doctors confirmed Terry experienced a TIA, which is a brief blockage of blood flow to part of the brain that can temporarily cause stroke-like symptoms. Thankfully, the brief episodes typically don't cause lasting damage.

During the exam, doctors also discovered the 64-year-old had a patent foramen ovale (or PFO) which is a hole in the heart that didn't close the way after birth. Terry was told a blood clot passed through the PFO, traveled to his brain and caused the TIA.

Fortunately, doctors were able to treat Terry on the spot and he's fully recovered. Now, Terry is reflecting on the surprising health scare.

"I learned many things from this terrifying experience," the famed plastic surgeon exclusively told E! News on Aug. 9. "One: If you or anyone around you shows possible signs of a stroke time is critical, you have five hours to get to a hospital to save your life. Two: If you have traveled recently, make sure you move frequently to keep blood flowing to prevent clots. Three: PFO is more common (20-30%) than people realize and TIAs and strokes can occur in anyone at any age."

Giving credit to Heather, Terry added, "Listen to your partner. If they are concerned about something don't argue, don't ignore and get it checked out right away. What they see may be very different than what you perceive. Be grateful for those who love you. I love my wife, thank god for Heather and her persistence and insistence. She truly saved my life."

TMZ was first to report the news.

Terry's episode is the same health scare that caused Hailey Bieber to have a transient stoke in 2022. 

"On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke like symptoms and was taken to the hospital," she shared with fans at the time. "They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours."

Hailey underwent the same PFO procedure to the close the hole in her heart. On the one-year anniversary of her surgery in April, the model shared she's "so grateful to have found this and have it closed, and so grateful for my amazing doctors. A year later I'm feeling strong and healthy."