Former anchor sent to hospital
Former TV anchor Carole Nelson Pond has news on her battle with AFib.
“I am to check into Florida Hospital Ormond Beach Thursday for a procedure and stronger meds,” Pond, 81, told me by email Tuesday. “He wants me to stay until Sunday. If this doesn’t work, then it is a procedure that was open-heart surgery a few years ago but is done with a catheter now. It would mean a pacemaker in addition to other things he wants to do to my heart.”
Pond was known as Carole Nelson in her Orlando TV anchor days from 1976 to 1990. She started at WFTV-Channel 9. She later moved to Channel 6, then back to WFTV. She was the first female anchor at night in this market.
She lives in Deltona with her husband, Sonny. For three years, she has had atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can cause poor blood flow, a stroke or a heart attack.
On May 1, she went into severe AFib. I wrote about her last week. Readers responded with medical suggestions and words of support. I passed on the emails to her, and she says thanks to everyone.
“I am astounded at the response from your column,” Pond said. “My Facebook posts now have more than 200 comments. Another good thing that came out of your column I hadn’t been expecting. I gave a copy to my cardio specialist. I wanted to let him know in a good way that I did not want to be dismissed.”
She repeated a point dear to her: “One of the reasons I am writing this on Facebook is to warn people that they have to be their own health manager.”
Listen to the TV legend: She knows what she’s talking about.