The Real Reason We Don't Hear From Bret Michaels Anymore

Only days after Michaels' emergency appendectomy, his publicist released a report saying that he had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, and was back in intensive care. Details were originally sketchy, aside from the fact that he was in critical condition and being monitored around the clock.

Sounds serious? It was, but it gets even more terrifying. He was officially diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which in non-medical speak means "bleeding in the brain." According to Michaels, he felt it happen and, since he was at home at the time, he thought someone had broken into the house and shot him in the back of the head. He was back at the hospital and was told he would make a full recovery, but that he was also in for days of pain as the blood dissolved. Yikes. We've all had bad months, but nothing like this.

At the end of May, the hemorrhage was officially linked to a condition called patent foramen ovale, which essentially means he had a small hole in his heart. About 20 percent of the adult population has it, doctors added, but it's only occasionally that the condition is linked with things like stroke. So, not only was he recovering from the appendectomy and the stroke, but that all meant another surgery to fix the hole in his heart ... and that's all a year after emergency kidney surgery.

That's enough to give anyone an excuse to take it easy for the next year or so — at least — but Michaels was planning charity events as he recovered. He was quoted in People as saying, "I don't have a death wish; I have a life wish. I want to fill my life with as much awesome stuff as I can. You can't have self-pity. At some point, you have to say, 'These are the cards I've been dealt, and I'm going to play them.'" If you ask us, that's pretty badass.

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