Bret Michaels Undergoes Heart Surgery
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Singer and reality TV star Bret Michaels, 47, is undergoing heart surgery on Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix to close a hole in his heart.
"I gotta tell ya, I'm very positive. I feel positive they're going to do an amazing job. They've done thousands of these operations," he tells sources in December.
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Lead vocalist of Poison, Michaels was diagnosed with this heart defect in April when doctors treated him for a brain hemorrhage at the Barrow Neurological Institute. Shortly before he suffered the hemorrhage, the diabetic singer suffered from an emergency appendectomy. Unfortunately in May, he also suffered from a mini-stroke. Doctors say without the procedure, Michaels would have been at a higher risk for developing blood clots and additional strokes.
Michaels is undergoing a cardiac catheterization during which a doctor will insert a catheter into his groin and guide wires along with the closure device into his heart with cameras to assist doctors in mending the hole.
The closure device or "fake, umbrella-looking apparatus" as Michaels describes to People, will help avoid abnormal blood between the two chambers of the heart, which is said to have caused the original stroke in May.