Not with me, thank goodness, my recovery and return to full strength is progressing, albeit slower than I had hoped. My only deal is that recently, I have had a persistent, ache type pain, in my left arm, from the elbow to the back of my shoulder.. I am hoping that is just a side effect of the medication I was on. We will give it a day or two to see if it goes away, now that I am off all the drugs, and back to my regular type routine. The bad news is about Mike Bucy. Most of you don't know Mike, as he is not a regular participant on the board here. He has been my best friend for nearly 35 years, my racing partner, and most recently, my shop guy. He runs his own business, he is a computer guy, always has been... right now he is doing Point of sale security stuff, along with internal camera systems.. pre-covid, he was traveling all around the country doing Great Clip Salons.. With Covid now, that business has slowed down, so he has been working with me a lot more in the shop, for the last several months. His real relation to you guys, beyond being a die hard Buick guy, who has owned and raced Buicks for over 40 years, is the he is the IT guy who did/does all the technical work on the board here, and continues to do that.. Everything you read and see on the screen here, is because he took the time to set it all up, and always has.. it was actually his Idea to start the board in the first place.. I don't know what I would do without him... it would be tough, beyond just the friendship thing, but also with the bolts and nuts of the operation here on the internet. ----------- After work last night, we were putzing around with the 17 ft Glastron I/O boat he has, that he and his kids kind of share.. we had to replace the ignition system in it, and in testing, thought we had a fuel system issue with the 4.3 chev v-6 that it has in it. We previously had it in the lake, and it would not rev up and was surging.. the fuel pressure gauge we had on it was down to 3psi at idle, compared to just over 6 where it used to be.. so we had done some filters and stuff after work last night.. To do some testing, we dumped it in the lake I live right next to, and did just a quick run around, and determined that there was nothing going on with the fuel system, It was getting late, past 7 o'clock, so we took it back to the boat launch, I jumped out and got the truck, and we put it back on the trailer. Everything was fine, I hooked up the strap on one side, he did the other, and we were jabbering about what the issue might be... All the sudden he stops talking.. I look up, and I see him about halfway up the boat, leaning on it, and his left hand is hanging onto the rail on the side of the boat.. I yell at him, no response.. So I hop over the trailer tongue, and walk up to him... his eyes are a bit glassy, he can't talk and I noticed right away, the right side of his face was drooping a little bit.. Now some time back, I had seen some info on TV about how to recognize that someone was having a stroke, and he had the signs.. So I feared that right away. Let me pause here and let you know that he has had a bunch of medical issues here, some of them going back nearly 30 years.. one of the issues is fainting spells... he starts feeling bad, and then passes out.. and then usually just as quickly, comes to, and everything is normal again. The first such episode happened to him in 1991 or 2... He passed out when he and I were out one night, and then within a minute or two, snapped right back, like nothing had happened. He has been poked, prodded, tested, MIR'ed and cat scanned over the years, and no has been able to come with the a diagnosis.. the most common one I had heard that they though his heart was slowing down, which dropped his blood pressure, and the lack of blood flow in the brain caused him to pass out.. This situation has come on gone for many years, but this last year, he has had some bigger episodes, leading up to last night. So, back to the story.. We are standing there by the boat, for what seemed like hours, but was in reality probably just a minute or two.. Knowing what I know about his past history, I am trying to ask him if this is what normally happens when he has an episode, or if this was different.. but he can't speak.. I tell him that your going to have to hang on to me, so we can get around the nose of the truck, and I can put you in the passenger seat, and get you to the ER... he just looks at me.. I ask him to raise his right leg and arm.. he can't... ask him to talk to me.. he can't.... Then his eyes clear a little, and he sticks his left arm out so that I can help him walk to the truck.. we do that.. and I get him in the passenger seat of his 05 Suburban.. I jump in and head for the hospital.. now in true guy "I am ok, rub a little dirt on it" fashion, as we go by my driveway on the way to the hospital, he takes his good arm and points at my driveway... like I am going to miss it. I look at him.. "Ya buddy, no chance your not going to the ER"... unless you have a miraculous recovery here in the next 15 minutes while we are driving there.. and even then, I am going to insist they look at you. I called his sister who is up on all his medical stuff on the way, and she confirmed that this was certainly different than what she has witnessed in the past. I knew he was not in any life and death danger during the drive, he was sitting upright, his eyes open, breathing normally, not sweating, so I was not worried about calling an ambulance, because as I was taking to his sister on the phone, I wandered a little toward the centerline on the two lane country hwy we were on, and he reached over and yanked the wheel back a little bit... so he was with me.. I would have called an ambulance and had them meet me somewhere on the way, if he had slumped over or something.. So we get there, I run inside and tell them what is going on, and they come out with a couple guys and a wheelchair and get him inside.. Initial exam reveals that he cannot move, or even feel his limbs on the right side and cannot talk... can't "follow the penlight" with his right eye, you know, that test they give you.. left eye ok, but not the right... all vitals are normal. So they are figuring he had a stroke, and schedule a quick cat scan. Now , about 2 minutes after they had run thru the exam, he lifts up his right arm, and scratches his nose...I went "Hey, 2 minutes ago you could not do that"... he shakes his head, and then proceeds to lift his arm, work his hand around, and lift his right leg... Still can't talk, but can form a couple words.. they kept asking him to give then a big toothy grin, but he could not.. So they roll him off for the cat scan, and me being the smart ass I am, told them "this won't take long, not much to see up there".. and he gives me the finger as he is being rolled out.. so I know he is able to process what is going on, just can't talk. They come back, and we have a telehealth conference with a neurologist down at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which is the biggest hospital in the Twin Cities. Smart, soft spoken guy who explains to Mike and I that the scan shows signs of a possible stoke, a blockage in the left side of his head, affecting his right side, as well as his speech.. he says they are going to transport him down to MPLS, where they can do a higher resolution scan, and determine a course of treatment.. either medication, or surgery to go in there with a catheter and pull the clot out.. in the meantime, they had started him on a medication to attempt to dissolve the clot. So I figure they are going to put him in an ambulance, and drive him the hour an a half or so to the cities.. about that time, the nurse comes in an announces that the North Life-Flight helicopter is on the way, and he will be leaving shortly. Holy crap.. this must be more serious than I am thinking.. While we are waiting for the air guys to show up, he suddenly just starts talking normally... just like that... nurses comment that they often see this in this situation, with this medication. So they load him on the gurney to get him put in the chopper, and right before they wheel him out, he says "hey, something is happening with my face.. and we could see it drooping again.. They wheeled him out, and I got some cool video of the chopper taking off, I will upload that later.. This morning, his sister and girlfriend called me, and gave me an update.. They had done the scan, and found that he has at least 2 small "infarctions" I think they called them in the LH side of his brain. They elected to put him in the ICU, elevate his blood pressure and give him the medication to attempt to dissolve the clots. They had not spoken to him, so could not give me an update on how he was doing, but they were told that his stable, and his prognosis is good, for hopefully a complete recovery. He was sleeping a lot, and they were waking him up once an hour to evaluate him. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he is the most important Buick guy to you, that you don't now, if your a v8 junkie... I will update you as I find out more information. Because of the Covid 19 protocols, he is allowed only 1 visitor per day, and with 4 sisters, and 4 kids, and a GF, that's not going to be me. But they promised me regular updates.. In light of recent events, I can only conclude this... It sucks getting old. JW
All the best wishes for a 100% recovery. Fortunately he has you as friend and you made the right decissions.
Sorry to hear about your buddy Mike. I hope for the best for him and that he gets better quick. Glad to see you learned your lesson and took him to the hospital ASAP. Doing that definitely prevented a worse outcome from happening. Ain't that the truth!
Jim I'm sorry to hear this, you did all you can do in a situation like that. I'm hoping for the best possible resolution of the problem(s) and a full recovery for Mike.
Prayers sent for Mike, and thanks for him having such a true friend as yourself. Some might not have followed through with the hospital, leaving it as "One of those old guy things", but you followed through and have given him the best chance for a speedy recovery. Thank you for you caring and foresight with Mike. Chuck
Holy crap Jim! Best of wishes from me and my family to his and yours. Clearly the big guy upstairs put you with him for a reason that day, nice fast acting on your behalf Jim!
Good job Jim. Glad you were with Mike when this went down instead of him being out in the back 40 by himself.
A trip to the emergency room and ICU is often a life altering experience; I've been there with my wife many times and your story here takes me back. My best analogy is its like being sucked through a knot hole with your brain in a time warp! It changes you and I think makes you so much more aware of our lives. relationships and what they mean. Thanks for passing along the detailed information on Mike and allowing us to be a part of this journey. We all hope and wish for the best outcome!!
Best wishes to Mike! and thank God you were there Jim and got him to the hospital right away. This happened to a guy I used to work with while he was sleeping and his wife didn't notice until the morning. The affects were no longer reversible after that much time.
