Bret Michaels has had yet another medical setback. The rocker and Celebrity Apprentice finalist was hospitalized again on Thursday after suffering numbness on one side of his face and continuing down the left side of his body.
His team of doctors at Barrows Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix ran tests and determined that Bret had suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack, often referred to as a warning stroke. They also found a Patent Forum Ovale, commonly called a hole in the heart.
The condition, according to Dr. Joseph Zabramski, is “operable and treatable”. He also indicated that the diagnosis was “devastating news for Bret and his family”. This is his third hospitalization in the last five weeks. He first underwent an emergency appendectomy on April 12, followed by two weeks in ICU for a significant brain bleed that occurred on April 21.
In the short term, the rocker will be treated with daily injections of a blood thinner and according to his rep Janna Elias, “He is in good spirits and is hopeful that everything will be OK. He is up, walking, talking, continuing his daily rehab and very happy to be alive.”
Michaels was slated to appear on Sunday night at the Celebrity Apprentice Finale, where he and Holly Robinson Peete are the last two contestants, and are competing for the title and a cash prize of $250,000 that will be given to the winner’s charity. Bret is playing for the American Diabetes Association. See video of their final task here.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see Bret up on Trump’s Boardroom big screen come Sunday. That is the means by which the Poison frontman appeared on Oprah earlier this week – check it out here.
More photos below:
Photos: WENN; Celebrity Apprentice promo pics, Video screen shots