It’s never too late to tell Papa Livio’s story and we’re sorry we didn’t create this site sooner. Who knew we would be here today — his 89th day in the hospital?

Where, how, why? We’ll back fill in some stories, timelines, progress, regression and more.

How did we get here?

Saturday, August 7th: It was the mid-afternoon and after a typical Papa Livio morning filled with Mass, breakfast and coffee with his friends, he came home to mom and got back to his routine. Next,  saying the Rosary (via zoom, yes Papa Livio uses Zoom too) with another group he frequently prayed with.

In typical fashion, it was time for Dad to knock out some chores and as he was tending to the back yard, mom saw him from the kitchen window. She noticed his legs were still but his upper torso was “spinning,” in a sense, and boom. He fell down, hard. Immediate reaction from Mom ensued, a call to the neighbor for some assistance in helping dad up. Minutes later the ambulance arrived.

All three sons received a text from mom at 4:12 PM CST — It read —>

“At the ER with Dad..Looks like he had a brain bleed this morning…waitin to talk to the brain surgeon. Urgent!”

And so it goes……

Below is the first image of Dad (8:15 PM, EST) as our entire family (Mom and three sons) were standing around him. Praying. As the Superhero dressed medical staff and Medivac team flew in from Kalamazoo (after a couple hours delay due to “weather”), they swiftly had Dad ready to go. At 9:05 PM (EST) we began our drive to Spectrum Hospital (~75 miles) where he was being airlifted to Grand Rapids, for emergency brain surgery. 

We all arrived, separately of course, Brian, Lee and Bradley, each in our own vehicles, and Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob (always there to help) picked up mom from the hospital in Niles, MI and drove her up separately. By 12:45 AM, now August 8th, a team of Neuro Surgeons and their staff informed us (generally) of the following:

Livio had a massive stroke and significant bleeding in the brain. They’re confident they treated him in time and he is stable. There was plenty more shared, but is now foggy, as there have been so many changes since his surgery.

The lasting memory our family shares from this late night is this:

He’s going to be in the ICU for a few weeks and he’s going to have a long recovery ahead of him. 4-6 Weeks. Then rehab, etc. Later this week will mark his 3rd month.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY. MORE TO COME.