Bret Michaels: Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Explained

Bret Michaels Medical Update 5/04/10

Bret Michaels has been released from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. The lead doctor treating Michaels, Dr. Joseph Zabramski, said at a news conference today that he recommends Michaels wait at least four to six weeks before resuming normal activity. Doctors wouldn't say when Michaels was released or whether he was sent home or to a rehabilitation facility.

Zabramski said Michaels is receiving therapy and continues to suffer from the effects of blood that pooled under his brain and is now dissolving. Two tests showed that Michaels did not suffer an aneurism, so doctors are unsure what caused his brain hemorrhage.

"He's improving and I expect him to continue to improve," said Zabramski. "I really expect that he will fortunately make a 100 percent recovery. He's just one of those lucky people – 10 to 20 percent who make a complete recovery and can resume all of their normal activities."

Bret Michaels Medical Update 5/02/10

Doctors at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz. plan to hold a news conference on Tuesday, May 4, to update the public on his condition.

"There is no doubt that Mr. Michaels' condition is serious. We are treating the subarachnoid hemorrhage, which caused his severe cranial pain," says Joseph Zabramski, a top neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute since 1986 and leader of Michaels' team. Zabramski says "Michaels will continue to undergo testing, considering we have hit a few roadblocks including hyponatremia, severe cranial and back pain suffered from blood drainage, an emergency appendectomy performed a week earlier and a lifelong history of Type 1 Diabetes."

However, "Bret's sheer will to live and fully recover is undeniable," says Zabramski. "He has an unbelievable fight in him and told me what kept him alive at the moment of the hemorrhage was that he 'did not want his family to wake up and see him lying unconscious in the middle of the floor.' It was a combination of Bret's fight to stay conscious during the hemorrhage and get to the emergency room, and the immediate medical attention provided by our staff at Barrow, that enabled us to stabilize his condition."

Bret Michaels Medical Update 4/28/10

Test results indicate a setback in Bret Michaels condition - a side effect from the brain hemorrhage called hyponatremia which is a lack of sodium in the body which leads to seizures.

Due to the severity of his condition, Bret Michaels continues to remain hospitalized in an intensive care unit at an undisclosed hospital. He remains in critical but stable condition according to his doctors.

Michaels' medical workup demonstrated findings of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke that causes bleeding in the fluid-filled spaces around the base of the brain. 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. Many people are speculating Michaels head injury suffered from a prop striking the singer at the Tony awards last June is the cause. Additional studies are planned throughout the week to hopefully detect the exact cause of the rupture. 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.

The most common cause of this condition is a spontaneous rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, however, 15 to 20 percent of spontaneous episodes of this hemorrhage are found to have no cause. Michaels has undergone a continuous series of tests while in the ICU including angiograms, CT scans, MRI’s and transcranial dopplers (TCD's). Doctors state Michaels is very lucky as his condition could have been fatal. With further testing and rehabilitation, they 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 and is in positive spirits. He is responding well to tests and treatments. Doctors remain hopeful for a full recovery.

Pat,

My best girlfriend (back in Michigan) was 33 years old in 1988 when she had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Later, Patty described her symptoms - a headache all day and "You know I never get headaches, Sunny." Initially she thought the headache was from work stress. (A few months earlier, she received her law degree and joined a law firm.) Later in the evening, while watching TV with her fiance Patty experienced numbness in her legs. She decided to go to bed but doesn't remember much after this. According to her fiance, she collapsed at the foot of the bed. He called paramedics.

In the ER, doctors initially thought it from a cocaine overdose. She wasn't a user. Nevertheless, treatment was postponed until cocaine use was ruled out. She remained in a coma for three weeks.

After two years of physical and speech therapy, she was able to walk without a walker and speak with little difficulty. Seizures, which she usually experienced in the mornings ,was and is controlled by medication. The "stroke" affected her right side.

Today, she walks with a limp and has little use of her right arm and hand. She can no longer read a book (she was an avid reader) and has trouble "finding words." But at most times, I can finish her sentences since we've been "sisters" all these years. :-)

About 10 years ago, she was hired by a card shop, where she still works part time. She stocks cards in the slots with one hand and learned to use the cash register. And although her life changed in a split second and her fiance departed, Patty is happy. She's been healthy, considering.

What concerns me most, however, is that in the past 1 1/2 years, she's fallen. One time, breaking her foot and more recently, her leg. I'm hoping these are "just" accidents and not related to balance issues. I pray for her everyday.