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URGENT- Don Souden Has Had A Stroke
I'm sorry to be the bearer of sad news.
My friend Don Souden suffered a stroke on August 8th. The stroke caused paralysis of his left side.
He then had further complications - an infection, coughing up blood, and a fall.
- sorry, everyone, i cant type with 2 hands anymore, i just had surgery on tuesday and it hurts -
don and i have emailed regularly for years, but dropped out of touch august 8th. i kept sending emails asking if he was ok, but got no response.
most of you don't know this, but don had been in a rehabilitation facility since last winter following a severe diabetic crisis. by this summer he was doing great, his insulin was under control and he was walking miles every day. his last email to me was very cheerful. i knew he was looking forward to moving into a new apt, and i hoped that maybe he had moved but not gotten internet yet. but i got more and more worried as time went on and i heard nothing from him.
i checked with jane coram and cris malone, and they hadn't heard from don since aug 7-8 either. i spent all day saturday on the internet and phone trying to track him down and find out if he was alright. we live 3,000 miles apart and american privacy laws made it difficult, but i was determined to find him. long story short, i finally made contact with his brother, who told me that don had a stroke aug 8 and had been rushed to the hospital in another city.
i asked if i could please speak with him but was told don had too much difficulty speaking on a phone, slurred speech from the stroke, probably wouldn't be able to recognize me, etc. i asked if i could please speak to him anyway; even if someone just held the phone up for a few seconds so i could tell him that all his friends miss him and send their love.
on sunday his sister called me. she told me he might not be able to recognize or talk to me, and that his longest phone call with family thus far was just a few seconds. i said i understood and wanted to try.
then she put don on. i told him that all his friends miss him and love him, and send their prayers for his full recovery. his voice was low, weak, and slightly slurred, but as i talked he began to respond.
don definitely recognized me and suddenly said "how you, bunny?'' he remembered minutiae that still has me amazed. he actually asked me, how's pokey?, referring to my horse!
don told me what had happened to him in a series of short statements-
i had a stroke... i'm paralyzed... left side... i can't walk... i had an infection... i coughed up blood... i fell.
he didn't grasp how much time had gone by since any of us had heard from him, but began to understand when i explained how worried jane and i were that we'd gotten no response from him. don said "i can't..." i knew he meant "i cant write or call or email", but i told him its ok, his friends will understand.
i asked if there was anyone i should contact for him, and he gave me a few names. i wrote to those people privately on monday.
then i asked if i had his permission to let his other friends know what had happened so they could pray for him, and he said yes.
i asked if i could post the news on casebook and he said yes again. i had hoped to do this for you yesterday, but had a rough day after my surgery and wasnt up to it. sorry.
i'm asking all of you to please say a prayer for don's recovery, and especially that he will be able to return to what he loves- writing, books, history and ripperology.
don is a wonderful person who has contributed so much to the study of history, and to ripperology in particular. we all need him.
thank you,
archaic
My friend Don Souden suffered a stroke on August 8th. The stroke caused paralysis of his left side.
He then had further complications - an infection, coughing up blood, and a fall.
- sorry, everyone, i cant type with 2 hands anymore, i just had surgery on tuesday and it hurts -
don and i have emailed regularly for years, but dropped out of touch august 8th. i kept sending emails asking if he was ok, but got no response.
most of you don't know this, but don had been in a rehabilitation facility since last winter following a severe diabetic crisis. by this summer he was doing great, his insulin was under control and he was walking miles every day. his last email to me was very cheerful. i knew he was looking forward to moving into a new apt, and i hoped that maybe he had moved but not gotten internet yet. but i got more and more worried as time went on and i heard nothing from him.
i checked with jane coram and cris malone, and they hadn't heard from don since aug 7-8 either. i spent all day saturday on the internet and phone trying to track him down and find out if he was alright. we live 3,000 miles apart and american privacy laws made it difficult, but i was determined to find him. long story short, i finally made contact with his brother, who told me that don had a stroke aug 8 and had been rushed to the hospital in another city.
i asked if i could please speak with him but was told don had too much difficulty speaking on a phone, slurred speech from the stroke, probably wouldn't be able to recognize me, etc. i asked if i could please speak to him anyway; even if someone just held the phone up for a few seconds so i could tell him that all his friends miss him and send their love.
on sunday his sister called me. she told me he might not be able to recognize or talk to me, and that his longest phone call with family thus far was just a few seconds. i said i understood and wanted to try.
then she put don on. i told him that all his friends miss him and love him, and send their prayers for his full recovery. his voice was low, weak, and slightly slurred, but as i talked he began to respond.
don definitely recognized me and suddenly said "how you, bunny?'' he remembered minutiae that still has me amazed. he actually asked me, how's pokey?, referring to my horse!
don told me what had happened to him in a series of short statements-
i had a stroke... i'm paralyzed... left side... i can't walk... i had an infection... i coughed up blood... i fell.
he didn't grasp how much time had gone by since any of us had heard from him, but began to understand when i explained how worried jane and i were that we'd gotten no response from him. don said "i can't..." i knew he meant "i cant write or call or email", but i told him its ok, his friends will understand.
i asked if there was anyone i should contact for him, and he gave me a few names. i wrote to those people privately on monday.
then i asked if i had his permission to let his other friends know what had happened so they could pray for him, and he said yes.
i asked if i could post the news on casebook and he said yes again. i had hoped to do this for you yesterday, but had a rough day after my surgery and wasnt up to it. sorry.
i'm asking all of you to please say a prayer for don's recovery, and especially that he will be able to return to what he loves- writing, books, history and ripperology.
don is a wonderful person who has contributed so much to the study of history, and to ripperology in particular. we all need him.
thank you,
archaic
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