Bret Michaels' Top Doctor Speaks Out on Patient's "Sheer Will to Live"

Lead neurosurgeon on Michaels' case plans to hold a press conference Tuesday

By Natalie Finn May 01, 2010 3:29 AMTags
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We're finally going to hear from the people in the white coats.

While Bret Michaels' reps have kept fans abreast of his condition since suffering a brain hemorrhage a week ago, his doctors are finally gearing up to offer their take on what's in store for the 47-year-old rock star:

"There is no doubt that Mr. Michaels' condition is serious. We are treating the subarachnoid hemorrhage, which caused his severe cranial pain," Dr. Joseph M. Zabramski, chief of Cerebrovascular Surgery and director of Clinical Neurosurgical Research at Barrow Neurological Institute, said in a statement released Friday by Michaels' camp.

E! News was first to report that Michaels was being treated at Barrow, which is part of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. His medical team will hold a press conference at noon on Tuesday.

"Mr. 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.

"Bret's sheer will to live and fully recover is undeniable," the surgeon continued. "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."

Thanks, doc, we hope to be hearing more positive news like that next week.

(Originally published April 30, 2010, at 4:47 p.m. PT)

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Check out Bret Michaels rockin' out and livin' the dream in our Big Moments gallery.