The second week of August, Bob and Sandy came to Colorado for a family reunion in Denver. They stopped in Colorado Springs to see the Bishops and Hamilton’s, friends from the Hideaway, They had dinner Tuesday night, August 7th, at which point Bob was in great spirits, telling stories as usual. There was a horrible hail storm that afternoon, which caused damage to the courses at Broadmoor so they were closed.
So, Bob decide he wanted to go gamble in Cripple Creek, an old mining town about an hour west of here. While on a tourist train, going over a gorge, he became unresponsive. There were two doctors on the train who provided first aid. He was airlifted via helicopter to Memorial Hospital in ColoradoSprings, which has the best Stroke treatment facility in the state. He was only 1 hour and 10 minutes from the onset of the stroke symptoms to the arrival at the hospital and initiation of treatment.
Medically he has a clot in the left middle cerebral artery, with damage to the opposite side of the brain. The neurosurgeons were able to only partially dissolve the clot, so he is paralyzed on the right side, including his facial muscles. He is also aphasic, unable to speak and with limited understanding of what is being said to him.
Dr. John Bishop is visiting on a regular basis and after returning recently he reported Bob is actually better. Still paralyzed, but was responding to "raise your eyelids", "squeeze my hand", and "try and smile". He actually uttered a sound from his throat for the first time. He can't swallow, so has a feeding tube.
He will be moved to Rehab soon to start speech therapy and PT. The docs have told us he has to be here 3 weeks in order to stabilize him. Sandy has moved into a Residence hotel along with Bob's sister and brother-in-law.
Bob is a tough old bird as you all know, so we wouldn't count him down and out yet. His response the next few days to Rehab will make the difference in his long term status.
Dr. John told him that even Bill Freeman had agreed to give him more strokes, which got a smile out of him, so he's in there and aware of what's going on to some extent.
Please use this site to comment as there are far too many emails and texts to answer and thanks for all your warm wishes and prayers.
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“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”
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