Zeno Lagler

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


Many know Zeno as a kind, caring, funny, faithful, considerate, hard working, talented, loyal, dependable, compassionate, and loving man. He is an amazing human being who cares deeply for others. He is always willing to help others out if he can. He has been known to buy cold water for some construction workers on a very hot day, buy a steak and egg breakfast for a homeless man, and many other acts of kindness. He has worked with at risk youth for over 30  years and is very dedicated to helping them move forward in their lives. 


On Sunday, May 31st, 2020, while helping a friend in Hood River, Zeno had a stroke. He was originally diagnosed as having vertigo and sent home. He was dizzy, nauseous, very tired and had a headache. I took care of him at home but saw that each day he was getting a little worse, still thinking it was vertigo. On Wednesday, June 3rd, he was not himself. His speech was a little slurred, he was unable to stand without falling, he was unable to sit upright without falling over, and he was a little confused. He did not sound like himself. I contacted Kaiser and spoke with a doctor over the phone about my concerns for him. That doctor arranged for an ambulance to come to our home to transport him to the Kaiser Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro. 


An MRI was done at the hospital which showed the damage to his brain, that was a result of the stroke he had on the 31st, that we didn't know was a stroke. (The doctor explained that it can take 3-5 days after a stroke before the effects of the stroke are seen.) He had a bleed in his brain and his brain was swelling. The doctor told me he was a very sick man. He was transferred to a Kaiser hospital on the east side of Portland and rushed into surgery to relieve the pressure in his brain. He did well in surgery and was taken to ICU when it was completed for close monitoring. 


Since surgery, he has been very tired. He can speak but is hard to understand, although that has improved. He has been able to stand with assistance, but is not walking yet, except for taking a few side steps to the chair in his room. They continue to work with him to address all of the concerns and to get him as stable as possible. The next step will be going to a rehabilitation facility where he will do physical and occupational therapy. It is unknown how long he will be in rehab but the next step after that will be for him to come home. And what a day of celebration that will be!!!


Thank you to everyone who cares about him and loves him.  I will do my best to put regular updates on this site so you can know how he is doing. No visitors are allowed due to COVID restrictions. Window visits at the rehab facility are possible and I will let you know more about that when I have the information.