Bob Weeden

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. It will be updated by his wife, Jennifer.

On Tuesday Nov. 3, 2020 Bob was in the backyard stacking some of the left over wood from the oak trees we had professionally trimmed. He was feeling lightheaded when he bent down. Later that day, we went for our usual 2 mile walk around Lake George. Bob began walking into me on the right complaining of a little dizziness.

The next day (Wed) he started to run a low grade fever, was fatigued, had a headache and was out of breath. I contacted his doctor to get him tested for COVID-19, but couldn’t get him in until Friday. So we masked up and quarantined him in our home.

Thursday morning he did not have the fever. He complained that his leg felt heavy. He felt a little confused. Bob’s doctor’s nurse told me to take him to Urgent Care that he needed to be seen same day and they did not have any available openings. So I took Bob to the Fairview Urgent Care in Brooklyn Park. They told me to take him to the ER either by ambulance or drive him there. I took him to Mercy Hospital. At this point, we thought maybe he had a stroke. He was walking, talking, but a bit confused and unsteady on his feet.

Mercy Hospital gave him a CAT scan and did not find a brain bleed. They did see some kind of mass on the left side of his brain. An MRI determined it was an abscess. Bob was admitted into the hospital and we were told that it may take as long as 21 hours to get a room. The hospital was completely full. Luckily, we got a room in just a few hours.

On Friday morning, Bob had surgery/biopsy and the neurosurgeon aspirated the abscess. He did not see anything hiding within it like a tumor, which was great news! The fluid was sent to the lab, and later it was determined the infection was streptococcus intermedius. Honestly, we don’t know where this came from, but it caused Bob to be hospitalized when COVID-19 outbreaks were on the rise. We had people suffering with the virus a few doors down from our room on our floor. We shared nurses. The hospitals are full.

The abscess has caused a brain injury as well as infection. He is receiving two types of antibiotics that will be administered for the next 8 weeks through a picc line (which is similar to a chemo port). His blood pressure is also affected by the abscess and is being regulated under 160 with medication. He cannot move his right arm or right leg, but he can feel touch. His speech is also affected. He is going to have to learn how do some things again.

He spent a week in Mercy Hospital and was transferred to Courage Kenny at Abbott for 3 weeks of intense physical and speech therapy.

It’s hard to believe that someone as active and healthy as Bob walked into the ER on Thursday and could not speak or walk the following day.

We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.