Larry is one of the members of the Thunder Over Louisville team that work all year long getting ready for the big event. He oversees all of the river traffic. Where the boats can and cannot go, where the barges go etc. etc. The team start planning immediately after the event for the next year's Thunder. This year after a full year of planning Larry had a big problem. He and Linda go ahead and get a room at the Galt House on Friday night so that he can be in the command center as late as necessary and not have to worry about driving home and then back down town early Sat. morning. At 2:30 or 3;00 AM he called Linda and told her he could not breathe. She took him immediately to Baptist East to the ER. It was determined there that he was in Congestive Heart Failure. They took the necessary steps to relieve him and started a series of tests, after admitting him to the hospital. At 5:00 AM he checked himself out because he said he had a job to do! The hospital made him sign a paper saying that he would not blame them if he didn't make it. He promised that he would be back as soon as Thunder was over.
He went back down to the command center and worked all day but they had taken the precaution of having an Emergency Medical Tech on duty all day. She had the equipment needed to give immediate care in the event that he or any of the others needed it.
He made it through the day and as promised went back to Baptist East where he is still being treated today. You do what you have to do!
Meanwhile Doc is still in Klondike Manor trying to regain the strength and movement of his right arm and leg. He had a stroke on February 16 and spent 7 days in the hospital and then was moved to Baptist rehab facility where he stayed for 12 days. He was doing very well until March 25 when he had another stroke. It paralyzed his right side. After 5 days in the hospital we moved him to Klondike Manor rehabilitation center. It is close to home and easy to get to. He has been under very strenuous therapy ever since. He works five days a week trying to regain the use of his arm and leg. Last Friday he was very pleased with himself because they had "game day" in re-hab and he was the star of the day because he got five out of five in the game of corn hole! One of the therapist asked if he had played basketball at Ohio State. He really got a kick out of that. He is kidded a lot because he wears so many Ohio State athletic shirts and sweat pants. Someone asked, snidely, if that person had seen him standing up. I pointed out that in the days when he would have been playing basketball you didn't have to be seven feet tall. A six foot man was considered a giant. The baskets were 10 feet off the floor in those days too and it took raw skill to make baskets.
He is making steady progress, his arm has regained some of the feeling and he can move it now. His leg is a little slower coming back but each day he can do a little bit more. Today they told me he had worked three straight hours and among other things he had walked with the walker,with the therapist holding his walking belt and someone following behind with a wheel chair to let him sit when he had had enough. He walked 80 feet! By the time I got there at noon he was eating lunch. I took him outside into the patio/garden to sit awhile and then he wanted to go in and take a nap.
Yesterday was his birthday. He is 86 years old. His favorite thing to eat is lobster and his favorite pie is lemon, so Gregg, Linda and I went to have lunch with him. Gregg brought him a full lobster tail dinner and I brought a lemon pie I had baked. He got lots of cards, a Happy Birthday balloon and visits from Gregg, Linda, Karen, Brian,Mike, Jane, Paul and me. Big day. I think he really enjoyed it.
Both these guys know what it takes and know how hard it can be to accomplish things.
An Irish toast to the both of them,"May you live all the days of your life! Slainte!
