I will be updating this posting when I hear more.
9-1-10: I’m happy to report that Michael came home last week and he’s almost back normal, although they STILL do not know why he blacked out precisely. He said it’s called “spinal” something. He didn’t remember falling, just being on his back and not feeling anything (he fell on his front side). Some neurological appointments are pending to review some tests, but basically he does not need physical therapy and he is only experiencing some light tingling in his fingers for which he is doing some exercises, as well as some exercises for his balance. He is able to walk fine. He has not returned to work yet.
8-18-10: Tomorrow he will be moved to a rehabilitation center in San Francisco (not sure of the name yet). He doesn’t have full use of his hands yet, but his voice sounded great and fully animated and I heard some optimism in him. He said he will update me with more information when he gets it.
16-Aug-2010: Many of you are concerned and have inquired about my friend Michael, who is a principal at a school in San Francisco, where he also lives. Yesterday his boyfriend, George, called me from the hospital, and then he put Michael on the phone. The plethora of tests are ongoing, but Michael sounded as sweet as ever and thanked me for inviting them to the party. I was just glad he was okay and feeling better, getting more feeling in all of his extremities, and sounding like he was going to be fine and out of the hospital before too long. It sounded like George was with him the whole time, which I was also glad to hear.
Some of you were there when he was standing right next to me, apparently having told George that he was not feeling well a few minutes earlier, and about to say good night to me. I had just noticed George preparing their things to part. Some of us were telling jokes in the kitchen so I thought that, on cue, Michael was bending over to belly laugh in response, but he just kept on going forward, and then, to our horror, we heard a big thud and realized it was him fainting as dead weight right onto his front side. I even thought for a minute that he had indeed laughed, but that he had lost his balance and would be getting right back up, but that did not happen, as many of us witnessed. I called 911 and we tried to make him as comfortable as possible, particularly with the help of Byron, who is a nurse, and suggested we elevate his feet. The ambulance got there just a few minutes later and took him to Eden Hospital in Castro Valley (which, from what I understand is a lot better than Saint Rose in Hayward). Eden is just a few blocks from where I used to live.
Michael is not diabetic, as some pondered, but he is epileptic. He had not had a seizure in many years and he had taken his medication on time Saturday. He was wearing a nicotine patch. The medical professionals still don’t know if he had a stroke or what exactly happened. They seemed skeptical that it was a seizure, because none of us saw him shake. So for now it remains a mystery as to what exactly caused the incident and his subsequent temporary loss of feeling in his limbs. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fall itself caused a concussion. There was absolutely nothing to break his fall to the hard kitchen floor, but surprisingly it looked like there was relatively little injury to his face. His glasses did not break, but he was bleeding in the mouth, as he may have cracked one or more teeth. His blood pressure when he left on the stretcher was only 73/40, I overheard. They were giving him fluids through an IV.
Michael Eddings is a very thoughtful person who touched me when he overheard how I had been mourning the loss of Michael Jackson. Eddings has been an online friends for many years (since before I returned to California), but when he heard that I had taken myself by surprise with being so overwhelmed by Jackson’s death and noted that I barely had any MJ music in my possession because it had been the soundtrack to my life and had always seemed to be there whether or not I played it myself, Eddings made me several CD’s with dozens of Jackson songs, which I eagerly and immediately added to my music rotation. We’ve chatted regularly ever since and hung out several times. He had also been to my birthday celebration at my place in Castro Valley. I just thought it was such a thoughtful gesture to someone who, at the time, he barely knew, and when I hear a Jackson song come from music library I often remember that Eddings was the source.
