Bill London has asked that I forward the following information concerning his
recent medical problems for purposes of rumor control.
Over the past few months, Bill has had a worsening of the symptoms of his
muscular dystrophy. Most recently he has experienced breathing efficiency
problems that resulted in sleep apnea and a persistent drowsiness during the
day. He was under a local internal medicine specialist's care and on the
evening of Friday, March 13, he entered Gritman Medical Center for a sleep
study as part of the ongoing diagnostic tests.
Sometime during the night, I'm not sure when, he stopped breathing and lost
the ability to do so for himself. The condition was immediately recognized
and he was placed on a positive pressure-breathing machine but did not have to
have a tube placed in his trachea. He was transferred to the hospital's
critical care unit where he spontaneously regained the ability to breathe for
himself about 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Bill said he recalls, "…coming out
of the blackness and hearing these people talking around me saying, '…we can't
wake him up.'" By 8 a.m., Bill was awake, alert, conscious, and behaving to
his current normal level of function without the machine. The episode
seemingly has not affected him in anyway other than to indicate his level of
progressing illness.
Bill is not in a coma now and miraculously did not suffer any damage to any of
his bodily systems that anyone can tell. He was transported to Sacred Heart
Medical Center by helicopter about noon on Saturday. The reason for this was
Bill's body had compensated for his poor breathing capability for so long, his
blood chemistry had changed placing him in a sort of metabolic jeopardy where
all sorts of bad things can happen to all sorts of vital organs if it was
allowed to continue. In addition, his local physician wanted Bill to get the
best medical care and diagnosis as an inpatient.
Bill remains at SHMC in room 718. His wife Gina, is doing well and has been
with him since early Saturday morning. SHMC is allowing her to sleep in the
room with Bill. Saturday night, Bill voluntarily was placed back on the
breathing machine and slept soundly all night for the first time in months
(except for the inevitable hospital interruptions). Sunday he spent about 5
hours voluntarily using the machine and is doing very well. He called me at
9:30 p.m. Sunday evening and in all honesty he sounded better, more relaxed,
and more like the old Bill London than I'd seen or heard in months. His blood
chemistry is improving steadily and he is learning how to deal with the
machine that he will likely bring home. Further diagnostic tests begin today
and no scheduled date of release has been talked about. He can have visitors
and is free to get up and move about.
Now to answer the housekeeping questions. Bill and Gina's personal affairs
are in order. They are insured through Bill's work at WSU. All necessary
immediate family have been notified. Everyone has offered their help and
support. If appropriate, I'll provide updates here but I don't want to
express anything my friend doesn't want nor do we want to burden the
listserver.
Please feel free to contact me or Jim Prall (882-8337) if you have further
questions or concerns.
Charlie Powell
email works great charle5170@aol.com or
335-7073 mornings or 882-1134 afternoons or evenings