Hailey Bieber opens up about the 'scariest moment of her life' after a ministroke led to emergency heart surgery
Hailey Bieber has opened up about her hospitalisation in March, detailing the 'scary' experience of suffering a mini-stroke which left her unable to talk.
Last month, the model told her social media followers that she had been taken to hospital following 'stroke like symptoms' as a result of a blood clot on her brain.
Now, Hailey has detailed the 'scariest moment she's ever been through' in a 12 minute video posted to her Instagram account.
The 25 year old recalled having breakfast with husband Justin when she suddenly felt a 'really weird sensation' moving down her arm towards her fingertips. When Justin asked if she was okay she realised she couldn't speak, and she explained: 'The right side of my face started drooping. I couldn’t get a sentence out. Everything was coming out, not even jumbled, just like couldn’t get any of the words out. So obviously immediately I thought I was having a stroke, like a full-blown stroke.'
When the doctor and medics arrived to help, she remembers having 'so many things running through [her] head', saying she thought: 'I’m having a stroke. I’m really scared. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why this is happening. Am I going to have permanent issues from this?'
However, the facial drooping quickly subsided and she slowly started regaining her speech. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Hailey says she was almost 'back to normal' and doctors diagnosed her with a small blood clot in her brain known as a TIA (transient ischemic attack).
She continued: '[It's] a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain, often called a ‘ministroke.’ It usually foreshadows a stroke, which is caused by a clot or blockage in the brain.'
After extensive testing, doctors found that she had a PFO (potent foramen ovale) which is 'a hole in the heart that didn’t close the way it should have at birth.' While medical professionals were unable to give one conclusive reason for why it happened following her discharge, she says they attributed it to three factors.
'I had just recently started birth control pills, which I should’ve never been on because I am someone who suffers from migraines anyway, and I just did not talk to my doctor about this, so, ladies, if you suffer from bad migraines, and you plan on being on birth control pills, make sure you tell your doctor, because having a stroke is a potential side effect from birth control pills,' Hailey said.
'The second thing is I had recently had COVID...and then the third thing is I had recently gone on a very long flight. I had flown to Paris and back in a very short time [without moving around].'
After more in-depth testing at UCLA, they found that she had a 'grade 5 PFO, which is the highest grade that you can have'. They believe that a blood clot traveled into her heart and escaped through the hole into her brain. She then had a PFO closure procedure, which is explained as 'this small little button that buttons closed the flap in the heart and eventually, the heart tissue grows back over the closure device.'
Following a smooth procedure, Hailey concluded that she is 'recovering really well, really fast' and felt 'relieved' that she can now 'move on' from the 'scariest moment' in her life.
