Bill Estrem

Hello friends and family of Bill.  It has been quite a difficult week for my dad and our family, and I thought this might be the best way to keep his loved ones up to date on his recent health problems.  I am Bill's daughter, Merrill, and I will be managing the caring bridge site.  I will begin with sharing the journey we have been on so far.  Back in December my dad noticed some chest pains and went to the Naples hospital to get checked out.  He spent the weekend there and was discharged and told nothing was wrong.  We were relieved, and in early January my family (husband Ted, and daughters Lillian (9), Rayna (7) and Serine (18 months) went down to Naples and had a wonderful visit with my mom and dad, as well as my brother Colin and his wife Kitsi and daughters Lola (11) and Stella (7). 


On Monday 1/27 my dad experienced chest pains in the middle of the night and went to the Naples hospital.  They discovered that he was having a heart attack and did an angiogram to check for artery blockage and found significant blockage which required several stents to be placed. After the angioplasty dad did not wake up and the doctors became concerned that he may have suffered a stroke.  After an MRI confirmed that he had in fact had a stroke, the doctors were able to remove the clot in his brain by doing a procedure called a thrombectomy. After that he was sleepy for quite a while, but would have short periods of wakefulness where he would talk to us (saying some pretty crazy things) and he was able to eat some food and take a short walk with the use of a walker and the physical therapist.  His left eye was affected my ptosis and would not open and the right side of his body was impaired quite a bit compared to the left.  


This was the status for a few days but then things took a turn for the worse.  He was alert for much shorter periods of time, and his speech became even more slurred to the point we couldn't understand him.  He could no longer swallow and his ability to move his limbs had diminished quite a bit.  Another MRI revealed that the damage from his previous stroke had worsened.  The neurologist said that with all he has been through in the past week we just need to give him time to heal before we will know the full picture of what lasting effects the stroke will have. At this point he can give hand squeezes, nod his head slightly, make sounds but not words, and even puckered up to give my mom, Cary, a little smooch.  We are hoping and praying for progress each day and we ask for your prayers, positive thoughts and good vibes!  I will update soon, hopefully with some good news!