UPDATED at 7PM, Thursday, December 18
Great news on Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe!
After suffering a major stroke in late October which left him bedridden, partially paralyzed, and unable to speak, in the last ten days Gordie has begun to make a remarkable recovery after undergoing another procedure early last week to treat his spinal stenosis which has been among his complicating medical issues since last summer.
In an email to me earlier this week, his son, Mark, told me that Gordie has taken a remarkable
turn for the better and “is now walking as much as 30 minutes at a time, has regained his appetite, and is drinking plenty of fluids again.”
As recently as December 2, Gordie, who has also been suffering from dementia for several years, was hospitalized for several days because of severe dehydration before returning back to his daughter, Cathy’s, home in Lubbock, Texas where he has been staying since September after spending July and August with Mark in New Jersey. Mark and his two brothers, Marty and Murray, have also been spending considerable time with Gordie in Texas since his October stroke.
“Dad’s motor skills are returning slowly and he is now able to feed himself again with his left hand,” Mark wrote to me, “while the right is still a work in progress. He is also speaking a bit again all be it softly, and his recognition of things and people has improved about 80%. It is truly remarkable. Both we and his therapist are completely blown away at what this most recent treatment has done for him. He is still feeble, but we were just hoping for some quality of life improvement and it has far exceeded our expectations. We are going to have a "miracle" Xmas at the Howe homes this year.”
There has been far too much bad news in hockey the last couple of months (Pat Quinn, Jean Beliveau, Murray Oliver, Bryan Murray's cancer) so as we enter the holiday season it is wonderful to be able to pass along the word that Gordie has made such fabulous progress in the past week. Once again Gordie Howe has proved to be not only a great man and great hockey player, but a great fighter as well.
So as we approach Christmas next week let us be especially thankful for this news ... and let’s also take to opportunity to again all hail Mr. Hockey!!!
UPDATE: I had a long visit with Mark tonight (Thursday) in the Flyers pressroom and he showed me some absolutely remarkable pictures and videos of Gordie taken in the last few days. The difference is just astounding over what it was two weeks ago!! It is truly a miracle.
Murray, Mark, Colleen, Gordie, Cathy and Marty Howe in about 1970
Join the Discussion:
»