Loading ...my friend stan
Maybe you’ve met my friend Stan Katz? Lately he lives in Memphis and works for ACBL, but about fifteen years ago he was the very first real live bridge player I’d ever met, and we’ve been friends ever since.
Stan was in Chicago for a visit on May 15 when he was hit by a car while walking across a moderately busy street. He suffered multiple rib fractures and severe trauma to the chest and lungs, and was held in a sedative-induced coma, breathing with the help of a respirator for several days. On the 24th his sister Ellen wrote, “He did not break his arms, legs, ankles or wrists and did not fracture his skull or facial bones although he may have broken his nose. He has many cuts, stitches and bruises but they are healing. His eyelids are no longer completely black and blue (they’re kind of yellow and green) and they and his head, are a lot less swollen. He actually doesn’t “look” too bad if you ignore the 20 or so tubes going into him.”
On June 4, surgeons reinforced the spaces between two injured vertebrae in Stan’s lower back so that when he recovers, he’ll be able to sit and stand up straight. A few days later Ellen wrote:
While healing nicely from his back surgery, Stan has been slow to recover the momentum that he’d been starting to build in his responsiveness to communication with his doctors or family. Every so often, he’ll be able to hold up two fingers in response to a request to do so. But most of the time he’s either sleeping or dazed.
This next period of Stanley’s recovery is likely to proceed in small increments of improvement, not in dramatic flourishes. Each day, he moves a little closer toward breathing on his own without the help of a ventilator. Each day, his lower body heals a bit more and shows more movement. Hopefully, within the next few days, he will begin to mouth words again as the heavy anesthetic doses he received during surgery leave his system.
Ellen Block, June 8
Though Ellen cautioned us about the speed of Stan’s progress, her email five days later seemed dramatic enough:
For each of the past two days, he has had a little time of actually sitting up on the edge of the bed. He has not sat in a chair or stood at all yet, but sitting up, after lying on your back for a month, is actually quite a lot of work. His sense of balance seemed ok for the short time he was sitting, but he was tired after that “exercise.”
Today, the tube in his trachea was changed to a smaller version. This allows more air to move around the tube so that we could actually hear his voice when he was speaking…and he did speak, not just mouth words. He used a broader vocabulary and actually initiated some of the “conversation” so he was being more than just responsive to our questions. He said “I need to get out,” “I hurt,” “my head hurts” ” my back hurts” ” I need a nurse,” and, in response to my saying he was doing very well and getting better, he said, “you lie.” Sad, I know. It felt terrible when he said that because, of course, he has no idea how far he has come and how much better he really is.
[...] While Stan does follow directions, people and objects are still elusive. I handed him a towel and he wiped his face with it but when I asked him if he knew what it was, he shook his head “no.” I showed him a book and got the same kind of response. The speech therapist suggested we give him familiar objects - i.e. a toothbrush and see if he knew what to do with them even if he didn’t know what they were called…and that we bring photos of ourselves and familiar people and places. She also said it’s very important not to over-stimulate him, that the quiet and rest is an extremely important part of the healing process for his brain. (This is actually very fascinating and if it weren’t Stan lying there, we might be more delighted with all this information and education.)
Ellen Block, June 13
A week later, Stan’s recovery continued to be dramatic. His vocabulary, Ellen reported, was getting back to normal, even if he remained somewhat dazed and confused. He gets obsessive, she told us, “going on and on for hours about how no one will let him out of here or fix the bad scores (from his bridge hand) and demanding that we find the right people who will help him because we obviously won’t help him.”
This has been the week for more big breakthroughs. First, on Monday we heard some terrific news from Ellen:
Yesterday when we arrived at the hospital, Stan was extremely uncomfortable, complaining over and over about his back pain. He wasn’t talking, just mouthing words - kind of a backstep but we figured he was tired. He also said his fingers hurt a lot….and no wonder. You know that awful ouchy little thing they do when they stick your finger to test your blood? They’ve been sticking his fingers every 4 hours for the 5 plus weeks since the accident so he has every right to complain about his fingers hurting and there’s not a lot you can do for that.
So he dozed on and off and tried to find a comfortable position and it seemed it would be just another long day of this stuff. He was mouthing “my back hurts” and then would mouth some other things I didn’t always understand. I finally said, “let’s spell it” and I started through the alphabet….a…b..c.. He impatiently waved his hand for me to hurry on through the letters which told us some things of great significance He knew the alphabet AND he could spell!
So we did that on and off and then I thought of giving him a piece of paper and a pen. And…guess what?
He could write!! His handwriting wasn’t all that clear. He didn’t always make sense in what he wrote though sometimes he did. “Doctors in control. Won’t let me out.” (makes sense, right?) but he was writing and he had relatively good fine motor control to do it!
AND THEN SUDDENLY, a light went on! We were talking to him about why he couldn’t get up, since he kept asking and insisting and we were trying to get him not to climb out of bed. We reviewed once again that he had had an accident, that he was getting better and that it would take time and patience. Instead of shaking his head “no as he usually does as in “no, I didn’t have an accident ” and “you lie” and other assorted odd things that he had been saying ” he asked “where?” and “when?” and wrote “what date injuries?” When we said May 15th, over 5 weeks ago, he mouthed “I had no clue.”
WOW! WOW! and WOW!
Then he got confused again and thought his friend, Jeff Schuett, was the one who was injured. Then he asked to talk to Jay at his office (Jay is away at present) and then he wanted to know about Natasha and Debbie and went through almost everyone from ACBL (he “loves you” and “misses you” and you are “all great”). Then he was confused about things again. Dave and I told him we had gone to Memphis and met people from his office and his eyes flew open. He asked about his car and was worried about paying his bills and wanted to be sure about various other things. That is the first time he’s evidenced any indication or awareness of life in Memphis. He does not remember his first surgery last February. He does not remember coming to Chicago for this trip. It’s not at all like it’s all back but another pocket of memory has, perhaps, awakened.
The hospital called us this morning at 6 am because he insisted on knowing when we were coming. (not sure why they gave in to that request at 6 in the morning …on a Sunday.) The nurse told me he didn’t sleep all night again so we have to continue to be careful about his being over-tired and over-stimulated. His brain still needs rest and time to mend which it seems to be doing. (What a fascinating process!)
The incisions from his back surgery need to heal. He’s still has an breathing tube in his trachea which supplies extra oxygen and moisture though he breathes on his own. He still has a feeding tube. He has only sat up 3 times and he hasn’t been on his feet at all yet. He’s in and out of lucidity though increasingly making sense and seems to truly know people better.
…So…there’s still lots unknown and quite a road to go BUT we think of him lying there in bandages, the ventilator breathing for him, and our not knowing if he would make it or if he did, in what shape he would be…and we feel so grateful for how far he has come.
Ellen Block, June 22
Tuesday’s update was sweet and sad –
Today started with a phone call from him via his nurse that he had tried to climb out of bed and had set off all sorts of alarms (on his various wires and tubes). He was very anxious about this and the nurse thought it would help calm him down if he talked to us. It did.
The day ended with Stan calling (via a sitter, which the hospital felt it necessary for him to have in his room - kind of one on one care) saying that he was out of bed and lying on the floor. That caused us immediate alarm, of course, but we were assured by the sitter and his nurse that he was not out of bed, had never been out of bed and was certainly not on the floor. Just confused.
So - you get the picture. Some things he said made sense and much of what he said did not make sense. He was back in bridge mode, concerned about winners, tricks, what non-trump majors I could lead and how many spade winners I had. Not being a bridge player, I was less than a helpfully conversant partner.
Ellen Block, June 23
Yesterday was much better for dear Steamer. His doctors isolated the infection in his back and changed his antibiotic to one which is specific for the bacteria which has been causing him such trouble, and they moved him back to the long-term rehab facility across town. As soon as we get the green light from the family, George and I are going to visit. Will keep you posted …
June 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Hi Stacy,
I’ve heard Stan talk about you on several occasions, so I somewhat feel as though I know you. I’m Stan’s assistant in Memphis and I must tell you, we miss him more than I can possibly express. I’ve never had a boss that was quicker to say “Thank you”, when he felt I’d gone the extra mile or “I’m sorry” when he realized that he had hurt my feelings. Natasha (his other right hand) and I bawled like babies when we read that he remembered us - we were so glad to know that we might have made an impression on him, as he has certainly made an unforgettable impression on us. If you get to go visit, please give him our love - we write often, but it’s just not the same as being there. Thanks for the news and for being friends with “our” Stan.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Hi, Debbie –
I’m so glad you wrote! I’ve been meaning to get all of Ellen’s updates organized into a post, and I promise to update you regularly from now on.
Heading to Florida for a couple of days of practice on Monday, hopefully we’ll be able to go visit before the 4th. Will definitely take your best wishes with us.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Stacy - I had no idea all this was going on with Stan! Thank you so much for the update - and - terribly glad to hear that Stan is improving. May his recovery continue in this direction!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Stacey, you should know that about a week ago, when Stan was first at Holy Family in DesPlaines and you and George were going to visit-(nearby wedding?) we said that George might come visit. There was silence for a while, then, in a LOUD voice, he said “TRUMP IT!”