Rocker Bret Michaels, one of the world’s most famous Type 1 diabetics, still plans on attending Sunday night’s series finale of the Celebrity Apprentice despite suffering a warning stroke and finding out that he has a hole in his heart, according to an article from People Magazine.
Michaels is one of two contestants that survived every week of the grueling competition (see Bret Michaels Advances to Celebrity Apprentice Finals). In the final event, Michaels is competing against Holly Robinson-Peete for $250,000 in prize money for their respective charities. Michaels’ charity is the American Diabetes Association and its summer camps for kids with diabetes. Michaels’ representative told People magazine that they are “cautiously optimistic” he will attend the live season finale, but that Michaels will ultimately listen to his doctors’ recommendation.
Earlier in the week Michaels suffered his most recent medical setback when he rushed to the hospital after experiencing numbness in his left arm and left side of his face. He first believed it to be related to his twice-a-day rehab sessions from a brain hemorrhage he suffered last month. However, when the numbness continued, Michaels went to the hospital and found out that he suffered from a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or warning stroke.
Michaels underwent a number of tests, including an MRI, CT scan and various ultrasounds. They found that he had a Patent Form Ovale (PFO), or a hole in his heart. Bret’s neurosurgeon said the diagnosis is “devastating news to Bret and his family.” However, the condition is treatable and not believe to be connected to the earlier brain hemorrhage, the doctor says. “Once again it is great that he quickly reacted to the severe numbness and got to the hospital immediately,” the doctor says. Michaels will be treated as an outpatient and given daily injections of Lovenox, a blood thinner that is supposed to reduce the chance of blood clots.
A representative for Michaels said he is “is up, walking, talking, continuing his daily rehab and very happy to be alive but he has made it clear he is sick and tired of being in the hospital and is ready to rock again.”
Michaels has had a rough time the last few months. First, he was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Shortly after being released from the hospital, he was rushed to the emergency room with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. (See Bret Michaels: Did Diabetes Play a Role in Brain Hemorrhage?) He recently told People that he feels there is a reason he survived. “I don’t know what that purpose is exactly yet,” he told the magazine. “Whether it means winning a lot of money for diabetes or it means just being a good dad, I feel very blessed.”
On Wednesday, before news of the stroke, Michaels appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss the brain hemorrhage.
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