The rocker is in “good spirits” after the brain hemorrhage he suffered last week, but doctors say his recovery may take weeks or even months.
bret_michaels.pngBret Michaels’ family, friends and fans breathed a much-awaited sigh of relief when they learned that his condition is slowly improving after undergoing major brain surgery last week.
Doctors for the 47-year-old former Poison front man and top Celebrity Apprentice 3 contender said his recovery will be slow, but that he “is very lucky, as his condition could have been fatal,” his tour manager, Janna Elias told fans on his website, BretMichaels.com on April 27. Due to the severity of the hemorrhage, Michaels continues to remain hospitalized in an intensive care unit in critical but stable condition at an undisclosed hospital, she said.
Despite his ordeal, Michaels is conscious, talking slowly and in good spirits, his rep told People April 28.
Ten days after the Rock of Love star underwent an emergency appendectomy, he was rushed to the hospital again on April 22 with a headache he said felt like getting “hit with a baseball bat again and again,” a source told People earlier this week.
His massive headache came from a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke that causes bleeding in the fluid-filled spaces around the base of the brain, wrote Elias. “It presents itself suddenly as the sound of a loud gunshot or thunderclap at the back of the head causing severe cranial pain and muscle spasms,” she said.
With further testing and rehabilitation, she said, doctors “are hopeful that Bret will gradually improve as the blood surrounding the brain dissolves and is reabsorbed into his system, which can be a very painful recovery and take several weeks to months.”
Michaels remains under 24-hour observation in the ICU, but “is in positive spirits,” she wrote. “He is responding well to tests and treatments.”
An Unsettling Complication
Even though Michaels’ condition has stabilized, he faces a new medical setback — seizures caused by a lack of sodium in the body, which is a common side effect from a brain hemorrhage, Elias wrote.
Still, she remains optimistic. “Even though today was a minor setback doctors remain hopeful for a full recovery and plan to release more specific information next Monday,” she said.
While some people are speculating that the stroke may have come after he was struck in the head by a falling piece of the set at the Tony awards last June, he will undergo further tests throughout the week to try to detect the exact cause of the rupture, said Elias. “Coupled with the fact that Michaels is a lifelong Type 1 diabetic and has recently undergone emergency appendectomy surgery while on tour in San Antonio, he will remain monitored closely by his medical team to make sure no complications occur from the diabetes.”
Friends Rally for Their Beloved Pal
Friends of Michaels from around the world have come forth to wish him well. Sharon Osbourne, who has been a friend of the singer’s for 30 years and stars with him on Apprentice, told US Magazine, “It’s devastating, and it makes you feel all these different things. Your heart goes out to his family, your heart goes out to him. He’s the nicest guy in the world. And then you start thinking about your own mortality. You start thinking, ‘Oh my God.’ It just makes you appreciate how lucky we all are.”
Apprentice honcho Donald Trump said on Today that Michaels “would work so hard, maybe harder than anybody else. And he’s doing well.”
Michaels’ longtime friend and guitar player in the Bret Michaels Band, Pete Evick, thanked fans on Michaels website for their outpouring of support, saying “we who are closest to Bret are overwhelmed with the amount of love and well wishes he is receiving. I know that everyone is waiting for some official news, however we just can’t give any right now. This is a time for family, a time for healing and a time for love.”
He praised Michaels for his work ethic, saying “I thought I was a hard worker. I didn’t understand that a man ten years older than me, battling a lifelong war with juvenile diabetes, more fame than most, and more money than he knows what to do with, could possibly get up every day with more drive and passion than myself. I was wrong! I didn’t understand what it meant to be a loyal friend. The kind that would do anything you ever needed without even asking why, what, who or where.
“Bret is the kind of guy that wakes up every day and treats it like it is his first, and may be his last,” he wrote. “He is full of passion, energy and love. But most of all, he is a survivor. Against the odds of a critical music industry, or battling a crippling disease, over and over again Bret has come out on top and ahead of the game. I personally expect nothing less from him in this situation.”
A New Michaels’ Song Released
To thank fans for their support, Evick released a “teaser” from Michael’s upcoming album, Custom Built, on the Web Page Audio portion of Michaels website. Evick released part of a song called “Wasted Time,” which he writes is “full of Bret Michaels’ emotion and heart. While not the final mix, I took some of the vocal we have laid down on the bus during the tour and comped together a piece of NEW MUSIC for you all. I believe all the fans will agree with me that this teaser is an amazing song. I hope you all use it, like I have this week, to remind you how amazing my great friend Bret is.”
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