Rocker and Celebrity Apprentice finalist Bret Michaels is back in a Los Angeles hospital after having what doctors are calling a warning stroke.
According to a message posted on Michaels' website, he "was readmitted to the hospital this week after suffering numbness on the left side of his body, predominantly his face and hands, which doctors described as a transient ischemic attack, or warning stroke."
In addition, tests showed that Michaels, 47, has a hole in his heart, called a patent foramen ovale.
His physician, Joseph Zabramski, called the diagnosis "devastating news to Bret and his family."
"The good news is that it is operable and treatable, and we think we may have diagnosed the problem that caused the transient ischemic attack," Zabramski says. "However, we feel it is highly unlikely this is connected to the brain hemorrhage he suffered a few weeks earlier."
On Michaels' site, his rep, Janna Elias, thanked fans for their support. "Even though these last few months have been tough on him and his family, especially this most recent setback, he is in good spirits, great medical hands and is positive and hopeful that everything is going to be OK. He is up, walking, talking, continuing his daily rehab and very happy to be alive."
Most of the Sunday Celebrity Apprentice finale was taped last fall; the reveal of the winner was to be broadcast live. NBC had said it was "cautiously optimistic" Michaels would appear, but his latest setback leaves that in question.
