Last week, Kim Zolciak was unable to compete in "Dancing with the Stars" after her doctors did not clear her to fly to Los Angeles following her mini stroke on Sept. 22. The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star was eliminated from the competition, and now, the star said that she is about to undergo heart surgery after doctors discovered a hole in her heart.
In an interview on "Good Morning America," Zolciak said that her mini stroke was a "blessing in disguise" because upon her doctors' examinations during her two-day hospital stay in Atlanta, it was revealed that she has a pre-existing condition.
"The minor TIA revealed that I have a PFO [patent foramen ovale], which is like a hole in your heart," she revealed. "I was born with it and it never closed. That's what caused it, basically."
She explained the condition and her treatment plans in an interview with E! The 37-year-old said that she had a blood clot and the doctors didn't know if it came from her pelvis or from her leg.
"Most people have a filter so it can't cross over to the other side of your heart, but because I do have a valve—they call it a hole, but it's more like a valve that never closed when I was born—the blood clot was able to transfer and go to through the hole, which stopped oxygen to my brain on the right side of her brain."
Following her mini stroke, the star took to Instagram to reveal that she temporarily lost the ability to speak and that her left side went numb. She was discharged from the hospital on Sept. 25 and was all set to return to the ABC competition the following Monday, but on the show's Sept. 28 telecast, it was announced that she and her partner, Tony Dovolani, had been eliminated.
The star said that she is currently taking blood thinning medication and will have heart surgery to correct the hole.
