Thank you for visiting Bill's CaringBridge page. This is where we will update everyone concerned for Bill on what is going on with his health. As you can hopefully understand, this is a stressful time for our family, and in lieu of calling Bill's wife, Debbie, to express your thoughts and well-wishes we ask that you share on here instead or reach out to Bryan. We will do our best to keep this updated with the latest on Bill.
Here is everything so far...
As you may know, Bill has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease for several years. The disease has taken a toll on both his mental and physical cognition, which has in turn led to brief hospitalizations. As the disease has slowly progressed, he was also diagnosed with dementia, which often goes hand-in-hand with Parkinson's.
At the start of September 2022, Bill's mental faculties began rapidly declining. This included confusion and hallucinations. Early on the morning of September 8th, Debbie, Bryan, and Meg awoke to find Bill had fallen in the middle of the night (his fall alert system had not detected the fall). This, in and of itself, was not super uncommon, and Debbie, Bryan, and Meg called paramedics to assist in getting Bill up as has happened several times over the course of his illness. However, with this fall, Bill's family noticed he was very confused. Debbie contacted Bill's doctor, who suggested that Bill be taken to the ER by ambulance.
Bill spent several hours in the Emergency Room of Virginia Hospital Center, over which time his mental cognition deteriorated at an alarming rate. He became severely confused, refused to eat or take medication, and eventually became combative with both family and hospital staff. This left doctors with no other recourse but to admit Bill.
In the first 24 hours, Bill continued to deteriorate. He was very combative, completely unaware of his surroundings, and did not recognize family members. The next day, BIll's longtime home caretaker, Victor, went to visit Bill in the hospital and was surprised to find him much more cognizant. He knew who Victor was and later, when Debbie visited, knew who she was, too. Hallucinations persisted, but they did not seem to take away from his overall awareness.
By early the next week, Bill seemed to improve. He was eating somewhat on his own and would willingly take his medication. But when a friend visited to try and help him eat (nurses had noted familair faces seemed to have more success with that), she reported that Bill was very paranoid. This was very concerning as those who have known Bill for a long time know that he has dealt with depression most of his life and roughly 20 years ago that led to a serious episode where, again, his mental capacities greatly declined. During that, one of the most visible symptoms was severe paranoia.
That, unforunately, is where Bill stands right now. It had been the doctor's goal to get Bill completely eating and taking his medication on his own before discharging him to a transitional facility. It is unclear how this recent bout of paranoia may complicate or alter those goals for discharge let alone what steps would now follow his move to a transtional rehab facility.
Hi. We want to share that National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has created a special memorial fund for Bill--the William C. Lienesch Government Affairs Intern Support Fund. If you would like to donate to this fund in his name, you should write the check to NPCA and then write "William C. Lienesch Fund" in the Memo section or attach a note asking for the donation to be put in that fund. Donations may be sent to:
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