Singer Bret Michaels Has Setback That Could Lead To Seizures

0 comments

Posted on 28th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , ,

Rocker Bret Michaels, stricken with a brain hemorrhage, has taken a turn for the worse, according to a medical update posted on his Facebook page Tuesday night.  http://www.facebook.com/BretMichaels?v=app_2347471856

 “Test results indicate a setback in Bret Michaels condition a side effect from the brain hemorrhage called hyponatremia a lack of sodium in the body which leads to seizures,” Tuesday’s message said.

The update was very detailed about Michaels, who has been hospitalized in critical condition in an intensive care unit since late last Thursday. He is under 24-hour observation but in “positive spirits,” according to the update.

 The message also said that although in critical condition, Michaels is stable.

 “Even though today was a minor setback doctors remain hopeful for a full recovery and plan to release more specific information next Monday,” the Facebook posting said.

 The update noted that CNN’s “Larry King Live” did a sho won Michaels’ earlier in the week. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said that the subarachnoid hemorrhage that Michaels suffered is an aneurysm in one of the blood vessels. He said that about 10 percent of people with that condition don’t survive; another quarter of people don’t make it through the first couple of days in the hospital; and 30 percent make a full recovery.

”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,” Michaels’ Facebook page says.

 “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,” the posting said. “Many people are speculating Michaels head injury suffered from a prop striking the singer at the Tony awards last June is the cause.”

 Michaels will undergo tests this week to try to find the exact cause of the rupture. Since the singer is a lifelong Type 1 diabetic, and recently underwent 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 medical update says that the most common cause of Michaels’ hemorrhage is a spontaneous rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, but “that 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,” the Facebook posting said. “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 is responding well to tests and treatments, according to the Facebook posting.

 The message noted that CNN’s “Larry King Live” did a show this week about Michaels, where Donald Trump talked about the Poison frontman, who is a contestant on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

 “Bret is very likable guy, down to earth and a solid person,” Trump said. “Out of all the people from ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ I may have had the best kind of off-camera relationship with him over the three years.”

 Trump also said Michaels is a good father, and that he is concerned for the singer’s health.

What The Medical Experts Say About Rocker Bret Michaels’ Prognosis After Brain Hemorrhage

0 comments

Posted on 27th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , ,

 Rocker and reality TV star Bret Michaels remained in an Intensive Care Unit Tuesday under 24-hour surveillance as doctors try to find the source of the bleeding in his brain. How the “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant does during the next few days is crucial.

 In the meantime, there have been many press stories theorizing, or interviewing physicians, about what caused the Poison frontman’s subarachnoid hemorrhage last Thursday night, and what his prognosis is for the future.

 Updates about Michaels’ condition are being posted on his Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/notes/bret-michaels/sunday-update-on-brets-condition/388988472569#!/notes/bret-michaels/bret-michaels-update-42610/389241632569

 “Once again we can’t thank everyone enough for all the well wishes and prayers being sent Bret’s way!” the page said Tuesday morning. “Look for an official medical report from doctors this week at BretMichaels.com. Please remember Bret is, and always has been, a fighter and survivor and is under the best medical care possible.”

 “Reportedly, Bret Michaels didn’t sustain any trauma,” Rob Brouhard wrote on About.com. “He just started bleeding near his brain stem. It has been reported that doctors aren’t exactly sure what caused the bleeding, but the overwhelming speculation is that Michaels had a brain aneurysm, one version of a stroke.”

 Brouhard defined an aneurysm as a “soft spot” in a blood vessel that ruptures if pressure gets high or there is a blow to that area.

 AOL Health spoke to Dr. Jeffrey Thomas, spokesman for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, about what might be causing Michaels’ bleeding. Thomas said it could be due to a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, a dissection of a cerebral blood vessel or the bleeding of a vein. http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/04/26/neurosurgeon-bret-michaels-bleeding-likely-from-1-of-3-causes/?icid=main|main|dl3|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2F2010%2F04%2F26%2Fneurosurgeon-bret-michaels-bleeding-likely-from-1-of-3-causes%2F

 The physician said that “the most benign” of those three possibilities would be bleeding from a vein. Recovery is a snap. But a dissection or tear of a blood vessel, or an aneurysm, would not bode well for Michaels.

 Published reports have said that Michaels has fuzzy vision, dizziness and slurred speech since he was hospitalized late Thursday after getting a agonizing headache.  

 Michaels is diabetic, and had an emergency appendectomy earlier this month. There was initially some speculation that Michaels’ brain hemorrhage was somehow related to the surgery.

 But in a story in the New York Daily News Tuesday, several doctors dismissed the notion that the surgery could have directly had caused the bleeding in Michaels’ brain.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/04/27/2010-04-27_doctors_say_it_is_unlikely_that_bret_michaels_emergency_appendectomy_led_to_brai.html

 One doctor said that high blood pressure is the most common cause of brain hemorrhages. Another said that Michaels’ may have developed a blood clot in his leg after his surgery and been put on blood thinners, which could have prompted the bleeding in his brain.

 MTV.com turned to a stroke expert about Michaels’ bleeding at the base of his skull. That physician, Dr. Joseph Broderick, said that while the rocker’s condition is serious, it is survivable.  

Army Trauma Units Are ‘Worse Than Iraq,’ One Soldier Charges

0 comments

Posted on 26th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , , ,

The Army’s Warrior Transition Battalion units, designed to treat soldiers with several physical and psychological trauma, “have become warehouses of despair,” leading to drug addiction, loneliness and suicide, The New York Times charged Sunday. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/health/25warrior.html?ref=todayspaper

 It’s a rather horrifying story. It appears that some of the men and women who served this country in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffered for it, are being locked away to cope with their headaches, depression and nightmares from combat.

 Not only are these servicemen not being given psychological help, according to The Times, they are being harangued by the noncommissioned officers who watch over them. The bullies accuse the war-ravaged vets of exaggerating their problems, and sometimes unfairly discipline them for minor infractions, The Times says.

 The paper quotes one veteran of the war in Iraq, Michael Crawford, saying that being in one of the transition units “is worse than being in Iraq.”

There are 7,200 soldiers in 32 transition units around the country.

The soldiers in these units are often prescribed drugs, and become addicted to them or move onto heroin, which according to The Times is easy to find on bases. These soldiers become listless from the drug use, and find it hard to exercise or take the classes they’re supposed to take. Then, they are punished by their noncom leaders.

What does this kind of caretaking lead to? At the Fort Carson transition unit, four soldiers have committed suicide.

The special units were designed to give combat veterans individual, specialized care, especially with their mental wounds. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have subjected many troops to concussions, leading to mental and behavioral problems.

Instead, The Times claims, these wounded soldiers are being made to feel “like fakers or weaklings.”

In one instance, a soldier who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury was assigned 24-hour guard duty against the orders of his physician, That man experienced flashbacks to his tour in Iraq.

 All in all, the story is an illuminating look at these transition units, and whether or not they are a failure.

Singer Bret Michaels In Serious Condition After Suffering Massive Brain Hemorrhage

1 comment

Posted on 23rd April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , ,

Rocker and reality TV star Bret Michaels was in critical condition Friday after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage, according to People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20363506,00.html

 The Poison frontman and Celebrity Apprentice contestant was rushed to an undisclosed hospital late Thursday night after he had “an excruciating headache,” People, which broke the story, reported.

Doctors determined that Michaels had suffered a massive  subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding at the base of his brain stem, People quoted a source close to the situation as saying.

Michaels, 47, is currently in critical condition.

 “After several CAT scans, MRIs and an angiogram, [doctors] decided to keep Michaels in the ICU and are running several tests to determine the cause. [It] will be touch and go for the next few days while he is under intense observation,” People quoted the source as saying.

The magazine said that Michaels’ representatives had confirmed the accuracy of the report, but wouldn’t comment until more testing was performed on Michaels.

Michaels was hospitalized earlier this month, on April 12 in San Antonio, Texas, for an emergency appendectomy. It’s not known if his current brain injury is related to that surgery or to Michaels’ diabetes.

Michaels had been under doctor’s supervision as recently as Wednesday, according to his own website, following his appendectomy. The singer, a Type 1 diabetic, was transferred to a private facility for diabetic patients after his surgery.

Michaels is considered a frontrunner to win Celebrity Apprentice 


Snowboarder Kevin Pearce May Be Journeying Home After TBI Rehabilitation

0 comments

Posted on 19th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , ,

The prognosis is looking good for Kevin Pearce, the champion snowboarder who sustained a traumatic brain injury during a halfpipe practice Dec. 31, according to The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/sports/17pearce.html?ref=sports

 Pearce, who would have been a contender in the Winter Olympics if not for his accident, has been recovering from his injuries at a brain rehabilitation facility, Craig Hospital, in Englewood, Colo.

 The 22-year-old has been making so much progress that he will be going home to Norwich, Vt., in the next few weeks according to the story, which is headlined “No Gold, but Something Better: Going Home.”

Pearce’s doctor believes that the youth will one day be snowboarding again. But the physician warned that Pearce shouldn’t be trying to do any halfpipes again. But one wonders if a snowboarder like Pearce, part of a counterculture sport that courts danger, will heed any doctor’s warnings.

 Pearce still risks dying because of the blood that filled his brain’s ventricles after his accident. He also sustained deep axonal brain injury.

 He was practicing a “double cork,” a key stunt, when he hit his head on the halfpipe. Pearce got his injuries even though he was wearing a helmet.

 In rehab, Pearce had to learn to talk and walk again. He is still having problems with his balance, and is wearing special eyeglasses to address that issue.

 And his memory is still very sketchy, according to his family. Let’s hope he remembers the lesson of his TBI: No more halfpipes.

 

 

Why It’s Deadly, Not ‘Cool,’ To Refuse To Wear A Motorcycle Helmet

0 comments

Posted on 17th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , , ,

Why don’t some motorcyclists wear helmets?

 How can you expose yourself in an open vehicle — traveling at high speeds — and not worry about the damage you would sustain if you were propelled like a missile and hit your head?

 Is it the “cool” factor, the macho factor, that makes people shun helmets?

 Jayne Zabrowski, my talented and indispensable paralegal, got a little first-hand insight into the helmet issue recently, on the banks of Lake Michigan.

 Here’s her story in her own words:

 I met a guy walking his dog on the beach yesterday. We started talking about things and motorcycles came up.  I asked if he wore a helmet when he rode.  

 He said, “No.”  

 I asked, “Why not?”

 His response: “When I don’t wear a helmet and I am riding my motorcycle, I feel like the coolest guy around. When I wear a helmet, I feel like I am a big weenie.”

 I responded: “No, you are a big weenie when you are lying intubated in a hospital bed with a brain injury because you thought you were too cool.”

 Jayne realizes that the man she encountered may have been taken aback by her tough-love comments.

 “But as I was thinking about the conversation, I realized that is why many people don’t wear a helmet…whether it be biking, motorcycle riding,  skiing, etc….too ‘cool’ for a helmet,” Jayne said. “Maybe they should spend a day with a brain injury and see how ‘cool’ that feels.”     

 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thought he was cool. Several years ago he made headlines when he almost died after being thrown from his motorcycle and hitting his head. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.

 Now Roethlisberger is in the news again. In a disgraceful case, the quarterback allegedly brought an intoxicated college student into a bar’s bathroom and had relations with her, while his bodyguards kept her friends at bay outside the door.

 He won’t be charged criminally in the case, but the Steelers and National Football League are expected to take disciplinary action against him.

 Repeated brain injury, like the trauma from the bike accident and the four concussions that Roethlisberger sustained playing football, can change a person’s behavior. And not for the better.

 How cool is that?

 

 

 

TBI Caregiver Espouses The Benefits Of Journaling To Alleviate ‘Compassion Fatigue’

2 comments

Posted on 17th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , , ,

 I’ve devoted most of my legal career to advocacy for those with traumatic brain injury, as well as being a source of  accurate information for those who have suffered such damage and their families. This blog is a key part of that teaching effort.

Now one of my readers, Barbars Stahura, tells me that she has been studying and will be offering a workshop for caregivers of National Guard members suffering from TBI.  That workshop is not open to the general public. 

In a letter to me, Barbara describes the workshop she will be teaching April 28 on the benefits of journaling.  

Hi, Mr. Johnson

 Thank you, both for making information on TBI available and for the work you do with people with brain injury. Your sites and videos are helpful and informative.

 My husband sustained a serious brain injury in 2003 as the result of a still unknown hit-and-run driver who turned left in front of him as he was on his motorcycle. Fortunately, Ken was wearing a good helmet, which saved his life and saved him from worse injury. His brain scans showed no injury, despite its severity (originally diagnosed as moderate to severe). 

 Since that time, he has recovered with only a few deficits, and I created a journaling workshop for people with brain injury. I’ve facilitated it twice annually since 2007 here in Tucson, at a HealthSouth hospital here. Out of that workshop came my book, “After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story,” co-authored with my husband’s speech therapist. It’s the first journaling book for people with brain injury, I’m proud to say. [ http://www.lapublishing.com/tbi-survivor-journal ]

 I’m a certified instructor of Journal to the Self and also lead journaling workshops for family caregivers, and will be presenting a workshop on compassion fatigue for National Guard care providers on April 28 in Atlanta, at the “Become A National Guard PRO” conference. It will include some basic journaling techniques, since journaling has been shown in numerous studies to produce benefits on the physical, emotional, and mental levels. 

 Again, thank you for all you do.

 Cheers,

Barbara Stahura

If you have loved ones in the National Guard with TBI and have questions about the workshop, please contact Barbara at  barbara@barbarastahura.com

Barbara also writes a blog at http://journalafterbraininjury.wordpress.com for survivors and family caregivers that you might want to take a look at.

Paralyzed Man Wins Extra $1.8 Million from Jury In Retrial Of His Case, Netting $12.4 Million

0 comments

Posted on 15th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , , ,

 Well, we guess Interlake Material Handling will think twice before appealing a jury verdict, and seeking a new trial, if it’s ever sued again.  The new verdict wound up being nearly $2 million more than the first one.

In the retrial, a jury awarded $12.4 million to Leroy Price, a forklift operator who was paralyzed when shelves holding several thousand pounds of frozen food fell on him in a warehouse in 2001. Rice was 37 at the time of the accident.

That second verdict was $1.8 million more than the verdict back in September 2006 in the first trial, when a jury in Philadelphia awarded Rice only $10.6 million.

Interlake had appealed the first verdict, and the suit was sent back for a new trial.

During the retrial Interlake claimed that Price’s damage claims were excessive. Rice, in turn, maintained that his paralysis had worsened over the last three years. The jury seemed to agree, awarding him $1.8 million more than his first trial, namely $12.4 million.

Rice  originally had filed suit several defendants, including Interlake, which makes shelving. He charged that the shelves that fell on him were not attached to the wall, and that only bolt held those shelves to the wall.

Before the first trial Rice settled with all the defendants for $3.4 million, except Interlake.

Husband Of TBI Survivor Shares Blog On Her Miraculous Recovery

2 comments

Posted on 15th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, ,

Believe in miracles – no matter what the doctors tell you.

 That’s the message from George. The Canadian resident asked that we share his family’s story and blog with you, to give hope to those who feel hopeless after their loved one sustains a traumatic brain injury.

 “My wife Yvonne was involved in a head-on collision with a tractor trailer in late January 2010,” George wrote us. “The car spun out on icy roads and crossed the line. Initially the doctors didn’t give us much hope. They said she might never leave the ICU and they asked us if it was her wish to be an organ donor. Yea, pretty damned bleak.”

 Well, apparently the doctors were wrong about Yvonne.

“She is healing beautifully and she IS a miracle girl!” George said.

The family has been keeping a blog about Yvonne’s progress, http://yvonneonthemend.blogspot.com/.

“I just wanted to share this so other families who suddenly find themselves in this situation will be able to read about her,” George wrote. .

The blog’s first entries date back to a day or two after the accident, which took place Jan. 27.

The Chicago City Council Approves $3 Million Settlement in Brain Injury Case

0 comments

Posted on 14th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

The Chicago City Council Wednesday approved a $3 million settlement for a woman who sustained permanent brain damage from a crash with a stolen van that was being chased by police. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/04/chicago-aldermen-approve-3-million-settlement-in-police-chase-crash.html

The settlement stems from an accident involving Regina Varela, who has cognitive problems because of the brain injury she sustained in the August 2004 accident. Varela, 17 at the time of the accident, was a passenger in a car traveling west on Addison Avenue. That car was struck broadside by a stolen van that ran a red light while being pursued by police.

The $3 million settlement will be given to Varela’s family.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a Chicago Law Department press release had said that the man driving the van, one of his passengers and a witness all said that the police had been pursuing the stolen vehicle for several blocks.

The police, however, maintained that they had only just started to pursue the stolen vehicle. They were punished for being out of their district without approval.