Late Friday, media sources began reporting that Bret Michaels was in critical condition. Apparently, after leaving the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, Michaels had then complained of an “excruciating headache” and was rushed back to the hosptial on Thursday night. Doctors diagnosed him with a “massive subarachnoid hemorrhage” which is at the brain stem. Here’s more:
Bret Michaels’s health has taken a turn for the worse, PEOPLE has learned: After an excruciating headache late Thursday night, the star was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where doctors discovered he suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding at the base of his brain stem), according to a source close to the situation.
Michaels, 47, is currently in critical condition. “After several CAT scans, MRIs and an angiogram, [doctors] decided to keep Michaels in the ICU and are running several tests to determine the cause. [It] will be touch and go for the next few days while he is under intense observation,” the source says.
Reps confirm this report is accurate, and tell PEOPLE, “We will have no additional information until further testing is done.”
The rocker’s latest hospital visit follows his emergency appendectomy in San Antonio, Texas, on April 12. There is no word yet whether this new development is related to the rocker’s recent appendectomy or to his diabetes.
After his appendectomy, Michaels remained in the hospital under his doctors’ care – then transferred to a rehab facility specializing in diabetic patients.
As he was recovering, Michaels – who was still in the running to win this season of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice – seemed to be in good spirits and updated fans on his progress.
“They told me that if I had gone on stage like I wanted to, [my appendix] likely would have ruptured and I could have died,” he wrote in a note to his fans. “There is just no way around the fact that getting your appendix out HURTS. I have a pretty good threshold for pain, but this one hurts.”
[From People Magazine]
While as of Saturday morning, Bret’s family has not released any information on Bret’s condition, TMZ did score an interview with Rock of Love’s Ambre Lake. Lake claims to have been in touch with Bret’s family, and from this second-hand account, she says that he’s “awake, in good spirits and talking” and that he’s stabilized and conscious.
We will update if hear anything else…
UPDATE: Bret’s website (via EW) was recently updated with this statement: “There are several incorrect reports on Bret’s condition. Bret remains in critical condition at an undisclosed location. Further tests are being ran and information will be updated in the coming days.” Meanwhile, Bret’s father Wally Sychak spoke to Radar, saying that he spoke to Bret on Friday morning, and “He sounded upbeat and positive but they had him sedated. But he’s doing good. He sounded like my son. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed and saying our prayers. He just needs to be quiet now and get rested.” Sychak also confirmed that Bret’s two daughters, his ex-girlfriend Kristi Lynn Gibson and his tour manager are all looking after Bret at the hospital.
Bret in New York on October 9, 2009, in LA on March 4, 2008 Credit: WENN. Additional photos by PicApp.
I hope he pulls through! I love him!
if he just would’ve trimmed about an inch off the ends of that ratty looking hair, this probably never would have happened.
Seriously though, that sounds scarry, I hope he is okay.
Hope he’s ok. My thoughts and prayers are with him, his daughters and the rest of his family.
Damn! I hope he’s o.k. too. Hang in there Brett! We’re pullin’ for ya buddy.
@April – For some reason I thought that is not his real hair. i.e. the reason he wears the bandanna and a hat everywhere is to help with the wig/hair situation. Anyone know if that is the case?
Hope he pulls through. what ever he’s got going on, diabetes only on makes it that much more serious.
Oh nooooooo. ): As much as I tease Bret Michaels, I really believe he is a good and decent human being. So I wish him well and I hope his condition improves ASAP.
I know he’s sick with type 1 diabetes…I wonder if that could have anything to do with his hemorrhage? Some reaction to medication from the appendectomy?
Please get better, Bret Micheals. You still have to find love!
And @eva – I’ve always thought that’s his real hair, but I definitely he’s got some severe pattern baldness on top, which is what the bandana is there to hide.
I hope his children aren’t too worried about him. Sounds to me (from what I’ve read) like they’re really close to him.
Eva no he is balding ,, lots of men hide it , as they are ashamed
I hope he pulls though
I really hope he pulls through! Get well, Bret!
@GatsbyGal
From what I’ve read, this condition can happen to people with diabetes. It said that if they receive proper medical care, they almost always pull through. But that if it happens a second time, most don’t make it. 🙁
My prayers are with Bret and his loved ones.
I’m an ICU RN – surgical, not neuro, so I don’t know a whole lot about subarachnoid bleeds (except we get a lot of heavy drinkers/cokeheads that come in with them) but whenever a non-family member calls into the hospital to ask a patient’s condition, 99% of the time we say “critical”. He could be on his deathbed, or sitting up in a chair eating lunch, & the staff would still say critical. Hopefully it’s the latter!
Just to add- not saying he’s a cokehead. But he does have a history of heavy partying.
OMG poor guy… I sympathize with his family. Hope he will get well again.
Bad luck that, having appendicitis and then a brain hemorrhage.
I watched him on all the Rock of Love shows and was amazed at how much he seemed to drink, thinking that couldn’t be good with his Diabetes (type 1, so presumably he’s had it for decades and should know better).
I’d bet that his drinking had something to do with this. I’m not trying to be judgmental – I became a fan after watching his shows and hope he pulls through this okay.
That sucks. I hope he gets better. His little girls need their dad.
@GatsbyGal
I totally agree. Even though his show makes Maury look like The 700 Club, he seems like a decent, nice guy who is just playing a public persona in order to make a living. I have a feeling when the cameras are off he’s pretty ordinary.
His condition is severe and his days are probably numbered, and he definitely doesn’t deserve this. Prayers for him and his family.
I too like the guy and I think whatever he’s gotten done on his face looks better than the initial work he had..he looks good.
Maybe this will be a blessing for him in that he will let it be a push to help him move into another phase of his life that is healthier and more grounded..these scares have a way of clarifying whats important and what it’s time to shed.
May be a big blessing in disguise to push him to redirect some of that awesome rock star energy…which I like. I think he has a cool vibe and seems like a genuinely nice person..which may be even better with some more balance in his life.
Poor guy, I hope he pulls through. I really like him too. For all his douchey antics, he seems like a genuinely good guy
Thoughts and prayers are with you Brett!
That sucks. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
he has diabetes? wow…every time i’ve seen him on his show (admittedly not that many times) he’s either been drunk or had a drink in his hand. hopefully if he recovers he’ll take better care of himself.
my opinion of him has turned around since seeing him on the apprentice. not the sharpest tool but a v nice guy who seems to mean well and really cares about people.
Probably got over-anticoagulated for DVT prophylaxis during his appendectomy. He certainly fit the criteria for someone who has comorbities (diabetic) for an abdominal surgical procedure where he was expected to not be ambulatory for a while. Try to prevent one problem, and often you just trade for another….get well Bret!
Didn’t he get hit in the head on some awards show? Don’t know where it was exactly but it was like he didn’t dodge when this thing came down to the stage and it whacked him in the head. I’m not in the medical profession at all, but is it possible damage was done and just waiting for an event to disrupt it.
Like his bandanna was removed and it was holding everything together…just kidding on that. I hope he gets better. He seems like a good guy, albeit a little dense.
I don’t understand how some people are more concerned about his hair than his health. Come on. Grow up.
Get well Bret.
Brett M and mortality just dont seem to belong in the same sentence.
I was only a fairweather Poison dilletante back in the day, more of a GnR girl, but there are surely sluts all over the world leaking sticky tears into their padded Dcups tonight.
I think he admitted on one of those atrocious shows that they’re hair extensions… he said something like “everybody knows i get the best hair extensions money can buy”
I hope he gets better though 🙁
I hope he gets well and turns his life around in a more healthy, less partying, less misogynistic, less stripper, superficial image, less porn kind of positive way and settles down to enjoy the time he has got left on this earth with his family and children.
I read a recent story on Bret in People Magazine and after reading that article, and seeing him on Celebrity Apprentice, my opinion of him has greatly improved. I always kind of liked him on Rock of Love, stupid as it was. He showed a lot of caring when several of the parents showed up and, in particular, when he found out one of the girls father was dying. But I think a lot of that show was a put on and for ratings, as they all are. Not that he wasn’t, and maybe sometimes still is, a party boy, but Bret is a very devoted father, still loves his ex-wife and still thinks they could get back together, and he has toned down the drinking because it messes up his blood sugar. Seeing him on Celebrity Apprentice, he comes across not like an entitled rock star (although he likes to call himself one… a lot), but he is always willing to put himself and his ideas out there, take the hit for the team, rally around his teammates, and he never comes across like his ego is getting the better of him. He’s self-effacing and generous and yes, he had admitted long ago to ‘getting the best hair extensions money can buy’ as fizXgirl314 mentioned. I really hope he pulls through.
For all of those wondering about how he may have had a hemorrhage, PEOPLE has an article that may explain things for you:
“Explaining the “Very Serious” Hemorrhage
Typically caused when a previously undetected aneurysm, or enlarged artery in the brain, ruptures suddenly, a subarachnoid hemorrhage – which refers to the area of the brain where the bleeding occurs – “can happen to anybody at anytime, and that’s why it’s scary,” Dr. Keith Siller of New York University’s Comprehensive Stroke Care Center tells PEOPLE.
Such hemorrhages are fatal in half of all cases, and 15% to 20% of people who suffer from them never even make it to the hospital.
Neither Michaels’s history of diabetes nor his recent appendectomy would be considered triggers for this type of brain hemorrhage, says Dr. Siller. Likewise, his onstage injury at the Tony Awards last year – in which Michaels was hit with an errant piece of scenery – could not have caused a hemorrhage nearly 11 months later.
The most significant risk factor for triggering this kind of rupture is smoking, says Dr. Siller. The aneurysm itself, which occurs in less than 2% of the population, is “something most people are just born with. Most people have no clue that they have this. People usually find out when they have a hemorrhage. In most cases, that is the cause. It’s something people have silently.”
With Michaels’s doctors still unable to locate the source of the bleeding, “the goal here is to find the aneurysm,” says Dr. Siller. “There are a small percentage of subarachnoid hemorrhages where sometimes the aneurysm has already ruptured and you can’t find it. Or it’s so small, and all this blood’s still sitting there, and it hides the aneurysm from being seen by an angiogram.”
“If you don’t see the aneurysm, you’re kind of stuck. You have to just repeat the angiogram and see whether some blood becomes visible.”
If located, doctors typically treat such hemorrhages either with surgery, in which the source of the leak is clipped, or with “coiling,” in which slivers of metal are inserted through a catheter in order to clot the blood.
“These are very serious hemorrhages,” says Dr. Siller, adding that Michaels’ prognosis depends on his condition at the time he was admitted to the hospital. “The better condition you are when you get to the hospital – in other words, if you’re awake, talking – if you’re conscious, those people have a very good prognosis that they can come out of this okay.”
“The people who come in comatose, or don’t have reflexes, they’re already in very bad shape,” he says. “They’re not the kind of person you can take into the operating room.”
Like Michaels, most patients’ first tip-off to this kind of hemorrhage is an excruciating headache – “the worst headache of your life,” says Dr. Siller, who stresses the importance of seeking emergency medical care in that situation. “A lot of people have these awful headaches, and they don’t come to the hospital in time,” says Dr. Siller. “They’re losing valuable time.”
Hope this helps those that were curious.
A dear friend of mine died several years ago during such a headache; she was also a smoker. So sad.
I also hope Brett isn’t having a stroke. 🙁
Many years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Bret when Poison toured the UK. He’s a lovely down to earth person, hope he gets better soon.
I’ve read how Jes (from the first ROL)has commented on Bret, and Ambre (from the second one)has mentioned how she’s talked to the family, but haven’t heard anything about Tanya, who won the ROL Bus. Wonder if they are still together (doubt it, though).