Dr. Oz: Heart Hole Surgery
Dr. Oz showed us an inside look into a heart surgery on his show. This time, he brought his daughter Zoe, who is currently a pre-med student at Harvard.
Dr. Oz showed footage of a recent heart surgery he did with his daughter and told us when we should be concerned about heart palpitations.
Lisa was the patient, a 41-year-old mother of two who has holes in her heart. She was born with the holes, but now they’re becoming a problem. They put her at risk for a catastrophic stroke. Lisa said she didn’t want her kids to see her sick. Her husband Bob said she was a “super mom” and he couldn’t bear the thought of not having her around.
Dr. Oz explained to Zoe the situation. He warned her that there’s going to be a lot of people in the operating room and it’s his job to create a sense of calm and peace in the middle of it so everyone can work together and accomplish their goal. Dr. Oz said he was hoping Zoe would see a surgery that goes smoothly. Ultimately, although no one said so, it seemed like it did.
Zoe couldn’t join Dr. Oz in the studio, so she sent a video of her impression of the surgery. She said she loved watching him in the OR, but as a result of all that anxiety and stress, she decided to switch her focus from pre-med to pre-law. Then she said she was just kidding.
Dr. Oz: Heart Palpitations
Dr. Oz shared some symptoms of serious heart conditions back in the studio. Lisa’s heart palpitations were happening because of her serious heart condition. Normally, the blood flows through the heart in an organized way. The blood in the right side stays in the right side and the blood in the left side stays on the left. This is because of a big muscle wall in the middle. In Lisa’s case, that wall never fully formed when she was born. This means the blood shifts from one side to the other. The side with more blood gets overwhelmed, causing palpitations.
Dr. Oz: How to Know When Heart Palpitations Are Serious
So how do you know if heart palpitations are serious or not? You should talk to your doctor if you feel dizzy, short of breath, or have pain in your chest accompanied by heart palpitations. You should also talk to your doctor if your palpitations last longer than five minutes. And while most people will have palpitations from time to time for a few seconds, if yours are more frequent, such as six times per minute, that’s a red flag that should alert you to a serious heart problem.
Dr. Oz said you can see the rest of Lisa’s story on Surgeon Oz, which airs Thursdays on OWN.
Ray Montemagni says
I had a PCA Stroke on 5/31/14 and a Hole was discovered in my Heart. I’m told FDA will not approve patching the hole. They feel it was the cause for me Stroke. I have lost more than 40% vision in both eyes from the PCA Stroke. How seroiups is this if left alone?
Ray Montemagni
Woodridge IL 60517
cell 708-296-0877