Brett Michaels, former lead singer for Poison and star of Rock of Love, will be having heart surgery in January to correct the heart defect that caused the singer to have two strokes this year.
Brett Michaels has a fairly common condition, called a patent foramen ovale (PFO), commonly known as a "hole in the heart". At birth, many of us have a hole in the area of the heart that divides the left heart from the right heart. Normally, this hole is completely closed within six months, but in some people the hole remains open, or patent.
This hole can cause turbulence in the blood flowing through the heart, and if the circumstances are just right, a clot can form. The heart then pumps the blood-including the clot-to the brain, where a stroke occurs.
So, back to Brett. His reps have not indicated whether he is having the hole closed with open heart surgery, or the less invasive method that uses a catheter guided from a large vessel in the thigh up to the heart. They did say that even though he is having surgery in January, he will be celebrating his March 15th birthday in style--he will be starting his book tour.
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That seems a long time to wait for such important surgery. I hope he’s not taking too much of a risk.
Not so risky with lots of blood thinners, nancy.
Interesting! I’m not on any blood thinners and my Cardiologist hasn’t recommended any? Maybe because knock on wood I haven’t had any strokes yet! I am 49 with PFO, just found out about a year ago. My Doctor just keeps tabs on me, had another stress test last week and she said she’d see me in six months. I wish the best for Brett Michaels, with his lifestyle I wonder why he is waiting?