# CBS's Serene Branson at the Grammys (possible TIA) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456 "2011-02-15T16:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456/41 "2011-02-20T12:17:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It wasn’t just stumbling over a word or three. As she tries to say more things, and they continue coming out garbled, you can see the panic under the surface; she realizes she can’t make her mouth do what it’s supposed to do. Also, as mentioned above, the right side of her face seems to be slacker than the left side. Good catch. I saw an interview with her earlier today with CBS anchor Pat Harvey. I can’t seem to find the video now but in it she said the right side of her face and her right hand went numb shortly after that. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456/42 "2011-02-20T19:42:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’m not saying it wasn’t a migraine, but I don’t see this as convincing proof in any way. A doctor \*can \*downplay a patient’s condition at their request. There’s stigma against TIA’s (mini-strokes) and seizures, and not much towards a migraine. Her job and public perception and privacy are all at stake. Her episode seemed very much like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOfZPzCGwAg) one, a reporter having an epileptic seizure on air. OK, so it’s clear that you think it was a TIA. Branson’s neurosurgeon saying otherwise does not convince you, because he would lie about it if she asked him to. In fact, we never saw him examine her, so she might just have slipped him some cash or a BJ to make this totally bogus statement on her behalf. I disagree with your interpretation. Her symptoms were consistent with a TIA, a stroke, a seizure, a complex migraine aura, and other less common things. Given her age and sex, the odds of all of these are not equal. Seizure and migraine are more likely than the others. Given her subsequent recovery and statements by her physician, there is no convincing reason to suspect anything other than complex migraine. If you doubt that a migraine aura can cause that particular cluster of symptoms, I can only assure you that in both my professional experience as a physician and personal experience as a migraine patient, they can and do. And I already posted that link on the 15th. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456/43 "2011-02-21T20:15:15Z")
I’ve had the same experience about a dozen times over the past 10 years. Two doctors and a neurologist have told me that the garbled speech is being caused by a headacheless migraine. They all assured me it was not a TIA. Losing my speech capabilities like that was terrifying and disturbing, especially the first time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456/44 "2011-02-22T02:53:50Z")
A friend of mine from work called it as a migraine. She said that she’d had a couple of migraines in her life where she had brief episodes where she was completely unsure if what she was trying to say was actually what was coming out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbss-serene-branson-at-the-grammys-possible-tia/571456.md?page=2)