Still healing. Kim Zolciak-Biermann reflected on suffering a stroke six years ago, admitting that she continues to notice the lingering side effects of her health scare.
“[Six years] ago today I had a stroke,” the Real Housewives of Atlanta alum, 43, captioned a series of Instagram photos on Wednesday, September 22. “I’ll never forget how I felt. I think about it almost daily still to this day. I take blood thinner daily & probably always will! I have no physical limitations but at times I can’t find the ‘right’ word, or I completely lose my train of thought. Thank God my hubby [Kroy Biermann] finishes my sentences.”
Looking back on that day in 2015, the Bravo star now realizes “it was so obvious something was wrong,” but she “didn’t pay attention” to the warning signs.
“I just landed in LA the night before & my head was pounding. Like a terrible terrible migraine,” the Don’t Be Tardy alum continued. “I suffered from migraines regularly so I just assumed that’s what it was BUT it was the WORST HEADACHE I have ever had. I popped excedrin migraine like usual & hopped in the car to head to DWTS studio for rehearsal. Our driver got lost & took us up into the Hollywood Hills! I was so car sick (typical for me) by the time I arrived to the studio I was feeling like crap!”
At the time, Zolciak-Biermann told her hairstylist that she still felt car sick. “She replied, ‘Kim it’s been 2hrs since you got out of the car,'” the reality TV star recalled. “It was wayyyy more than car sickness now looking back.”
After performing on season 21 of Dancing With the Stars with partner Tony Dovolani, the Florida native flew home to her kids: Brielle, now 24, Ariana, 19, KJ, now 10, Kash, now 9, and twins Kaia Rose and Kane Ren, now 7.
“I pulled in the driveway opened the car door & bent down to hug KJ when it happened…..my fingers went numb,” the Kashmere Kollection founder wrote. “I thought to myself, OMG Kim get over to the car and hold on to something. I felt like I was going to collapse & there was no way I was going to do that in front of my kids. I was holding on to the car & remember saying to @sladeosborne ‘I NEED HELP’ but when I went to speak I couldn’t!”
Zolciak-Biermann was released from the hospital in September 2015 following her stroke and was eliminated from DWTS after missing a performance. One month later, she described the incident as “a blessing in disguise.”
She told Good Morning America in October 2015, “The minor TIA revealed that I have a PFO, which is like a hole in your heart. I was born with it and it never closed. That’s what caused it, basically. … I don’t think that many people would really fake a stroke.”
