Reporter Serene Branson is breaking her silence about that disturbing on-air medical scare.
"I was terrified. I was scared. I was confused. I didn't know what was going on," said Branson.
She continued, "I knew something wasn't right as soon as I opened my mouth. I hadn't been feeling well a little bit before the live shot. I had a headache, my vision was blurry. I knew something wasn't right but I thought I was just tired. So when I opened my mouth I thought, this is more than just being tired."
The veteran reporter received warm hugs from concerned co- workers when she returned to the the KCBS newsroom in Los Angeles, emerging for the first time after days of extensive medical tests. She looked mortified watching video of her nonsensical live report from the Grammys for the first time.
"I'm feeling great. A little tired, this week has been a little exhausting, but I'm feeling like my old self again finally," said Branson.
A healthy-looking Branson flew to New York and appeared on The Early Show Friday where she opened up about the tense moments that unfolded immediately after her garbled Grammys report.
Branson said, "They sat me down immediately. I dropped the microphone. Right after that, my cheek went numb, my right hand went numb, and I started to cry. I was scared. I didn't know what went on. I was embarrassed and fearful."
Believe it or not, she remembers the exact words she was trying to say in her slurred report: "I wanted to say 'Lady Antebellum swept the Grammys' and I could think of the words, but I could not...they weren't coming out properly."
Branson's incoherent, nonsensical report left viewers and medical experts believing that she had suffered a stroke on live TV. Fortunately, her doctors now say it was a medical syndrome known as a "complex migraine."
Dr. Keith Black told INSIDE EDITION, "A complex migraine can look identical to a stoke. Weakness in the arm, numbness in the arm. There could be loss of vision, difficulty with speech. The way that we diagnos a complex migraine is by ruling out all the other possibilities."
When Branson was asked on The Early Show if she had ever had a migraine before, she replied, "No. I have had headaches throughout my life, but never really what I would have called a migraine."
Morning show medical experts are weighing in on the diagnosis. Dr. Nancy Snyderman said on Good Morning America, "It's not a shock, but it wouldn't have been on the top of my list."
Branson hopes her medical crisis is in the past and she's gearing up for a much smoother live report at Hollywood's next big awards show, saying, "I've got to get ready for the Oscars®."
On KCBS Channel 2 website to find her is
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/personality/serene-branson/.
