الوسم: host

Daytime television host Michelle Watt took her own life because of chronic headaches caused by a spinal procedure, her boxing pundit father Jim revealed.
The former lightweight world champion, 66, said his 38-year-old daughter became depressed as she struggled to cope with excruciating pain following a lumbar puncture.
He said the 60 Minute Makeover presenter was unable to eat or sleep and lost her spark after the crippling pain became too much.
The mother-of-one had the surgery – which sees a needle inserted into the spine – to test for problems affecting her brain after suffering headaches and blackouts late last year.
‘There was a problem with her optical nerve so they gave her the lumbar puncture to check for things like pressure on the brain,’ her father toldThe Scottish Sun. ‘From that point her life was horrendous.

‘She was in constant pain and wasn’t sleeping. It knocked the stuffing out of her.‘Her appetite went and the weight was falling off her.
She had no enthusiasm — she didn’t want to see anyone or go anywhere.‘The spark just went.
She just ceased to be Michelle.’Michelle’s **** was discovered last Wednesday in the £350,000 detached house she shared with husband Paul Kerr, 43, and five-year-old daughter Jaymi in Airth, Stirlingshire.
Her death is the second family tragedy to devastate the former lightweight champion and his wife Margaret.In October 1995, their son Jim junior lost his life in a horrific road crash when he was only 17-years-old.

Michelle, who also presented STV’s The Hour, first noticed something wrong when she started suffering headaches and had a couple of blackouts late last year.She went for an eye test and the optician told her to go straight to hospital.

After the lumbar puncture, doctors gave Michelle MRI and CAT scans which revealed calcium deposits on her optical nerve.
Her father said that Michelle became more insular and stopped answering **** messages or going out following the painful operation.
She fell into a dark depression and could not escape the slump despite going to live with her father in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.
‘She hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since the procedure and not sleeping is an illness in itself, he said.‘It was a terrible time for Michelle and compounded into a deep depression.

‘At that point she wasn’t answering ****s from friends, she shut the whole world out.’
He also pointed out that Hollywood star George Clooney was left feeling suicidal after having the same procedure.
Jim said he noticed an improvement after Michelle received professional help for her depression and that no**** predicted this would happen.
He paid tribute to his daughter, describing her as ‘the most wonderful girl in the world’.He also told how her husband Paul and daughter were ‘shattered’ by the loss.
Michelle had carved a successful media career after presenting a number of TV programmes, including 60 Minute Makeover, dating show Club Cupid, and The Hour on STV in Scotland.

She was also a regular newspaper columnist, with her bubbly nature and sense of humour said to be purely contagious to those around her.
Tributes were paid by popular Michelle’s showbiz friends.TV favourite Lorraine Kelly – who Michelle had previously described as her ‘inspiration’ – posted on Twitter: ‘Absolutely shocked to hear of death of Michelle Watt.‘Lovely woman and a fantastic mum. Thoughts with her family and everyone who loved her.’
Glasgow comedian Des Clarke, who shared hosting duties with the mother-of-one on Club Cupid, said: ‘It’s so sad. My memories of Michelle are just all so happy.‘She was just really fun to be around and such a lovely, genuine person and so hard-working.‘I never remember her having a bad day.
She was a beautiful-looking girl and so full of joy.‘It didn’t matter what time of day I’d see her, first thing in the morning or last thing at night, she was so glam – and I’d turn up in T-shirts and scruffy jeans and old trainers.’

Her father said that Michelle became more insular and stopped answering **** messages or going out following the painful operation

LUMBAR PUNCTURE CAN TRIGGER HEADACHES AS SPINAL FLUID LEAKS

Lumbar puncture tests, also known as spinal tap procedure, is performed to allow medics to look at the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.
Cerebral spinal fluid acts as a cushion, protecting the brain and spine from injury.
The fluid is normally clear and has the same consistency as water.
The test can also measure pressure in the spinal fluid.
How the test is carried out?
A patient is put under local anaesthetic and a hollow needle is then inserted into the base of the spine and into the spinal canal, which contains the spinal cord and the nerves coming from it.
The patient will normally be lying on their side, legs pulled up and chin tucked in.
The position allows the medic to access the spine.
The procedure takes around 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

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A lumbar puncture is carried out to test the cerebral spinal fluid, highlighted in purple above, which acts as a cushion, protecting the brain and spine from injury

What are the risks?
A lumbar puncture is generally safe and the risk of serious complications is very low, according to the NHS.
Many patients experience headaches, which ususally develop 24 to 48 hours after having the procedure.
Patients typically describe a dull or throbbing pain at the front of their head, while others experience the pain spreading to the neck and shoulders.
The pain is caused by cerebral spinal fluid leaking out through the needle hole in the spine.
The NHS states: ‘The headaches are typically worse when in the upright position and can usually be relieved by lying down.’
Drinking plenty of fluids and taking simple painkillers can also relieve the pain.
Typically it can take up to a week for the hole to heal and the fluid to stop leaking.
Source: NHS Choices