RHONJ’s Dolores Catania’s Health Issues Explained

Since when does the muscle of the Real Housewives of New Jersey get sick? Getting sick happens to the strongest of Bravolebs, including Dolores Catania. Thankfully, the fan favorite isn’t down for the count and is instead educating fans about her recent health scare. Here’s what we know.  

Dolores Catania had major heart issues 

Recently, Dolores revealed some startling news after she took to her Instagram Story to say “Hey everybody, it’s been a minute since I’ve been on here to talk to you, but a little update — I had a heart procedure,” She elaborated to listeners when on the Two Ts in a Pod podcast.  The mother of two shared that she had been hospitalized. According to the RHONJ star, the doctors had to “shock her heart.” The decision came after her doctor told her she was in “AFib” and could possibly have a stroke at any given moment. Needless to say, the news was jarring to the New Jersey native. Dolores, who seemed healthy and happy while guest hosting, recounted those scary moments for viewers.   

“So recently, my heart was beating out of my chest. It felt like a flutter, it felt like a butterfly, and then it goes away. Well, it started to come more frequent and then I got a pain from the middle of my chest to my shoulder when I was driving one day.” As the medical community is now learning, women, like Dolores, experience different symptoms when it comes to heart attacks. Now, women are told to look out for chest pain that feels like squeezing, indigestion, upper back pain, and neck pain. As for stroke symptoms in women, it is important to pay attention to numbness in the face, confusion, trouble speaking, and a severe headache with no known cause.   

Dolores Catania is putting her health first

As for Dolores, she knew something was off. She recalled, “I was like, ‘That’s not right. It wouldn’t go away, and I decided to go to a cardiologist.” Once arriving at the heart doctor, she was surprised to learn that she was in AFib. She noted, “AFib is atrial fibrillation … You’re a walking stroke. You can have a stroke. So many people just ignore that. So I’m telling everybody, if you get those flutters in your chest, go see a doctor.” Dolores’ case was serious enough that she was later checked into the hospital.

She underwent a procedure where the doctors “went through my groin” and “into my heart. They kind of shock your heart and cauterize it.” According to the Mayo Clinic, this procedure is called an ablation. A doctor performs this by inserting a catheter through a blood vessel in the groin and guiding it into the heart. The procedure is a minimally invasive approach that allows doctors to target and scar areas of the heart. The treatment “uses heat or cold energy to create tiny scars in an area of the heart. The signals that tell the heart to beat can’t pass through scar tissue. So the treatment helps block faulty signals that cause AFib.”

Dolores Catania reveals her feelings about the future of RHONJ 

Later on in the episode, Dolores opened up about the explosive Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion. As a fan, I didn’t realize she hosted the event and had to spend her own money on it. She told Tamra Judge, “I spent $30,000 on a finale party. I hired actors. I got whiskey. Had people flown in from Ireland. I had Irish flowers … I had my garage turned into a casino with our faces on coins that they never showed.” Sadly, producers only focused on the major fight between Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga. That’s enough to get anyone’s heart pounding. 

However, in August, Dolo admitted that when it comes to the Real Housewives of New Jersey, “everyone has an expiration date.” When talking to Jeff Lewis, she stated, “I always said no matter how our expiration date happens … I would leave gracefully with a lot of gratitude because this [series] has done so much for me.” She then joked, “Did I ever deserve to be on TV? I should have been a Housewife from Totowa.” Whatever happens in the future, fans are just happy to learn that Dolores is on the mend and healthier than ever.