I've had some experience with TIA's in my family, but they were all people in their mid 70's and 80's. So Gord being "only" 67 causes more concern.

Like Finesse, I am new to this group, and stumbled upon it when searching for news on Gordon’s mini-stroke. I am still surprised that there was no mention of it anywhere in the mainstream press, or even the trade papers (i.e., Rolling Stone, Billboard, etc.)

My wife and I attended the concert last night (9/20) in Whitewater, Wisc., and were stunned, like almost everyone else in the theater, to hear Gordo relate the news to us right after his opening song (Cotton Jenny). We were totally ignorant of the incident, as was the vast majority of the audience, and there was a loud groan, followed by hushed silence. As I looked around, after a few songs, more than a few people were crying.

Most of the things that occurred (Gordon’s statements, physical movements, etc.), have already been related by others who attended the shows in Harris, Minneapolis, and Wausau, so I won’t repeat them--they're practically identical to what we saw last night. But, I will add a few personal observations. . .

This is the first time I have ever seen him in concert, (I had bought tickets, way back in 1983, to a concert in Madison that was cancelled at the last minute.) So, I was just struck at how professional he was on stage—in the sense that he made it painfully clear that he cared very much whether we were pleased by his performance. After his encore (only one—by his choice, I think,) he came back out, alone, for one last bow. The whole theater was standing, of course, and he looked at us and shrugged his shoulders a bit, as if to say, “How was I?” When we roared our approval, he gave us a quick nod, showed a double-thumbs up, and nodded, as is to say, “Great!”, and he made his exit.

He had a momentary lapse of memory during “Don Quixote”, and began repeating verse one, rather than starting verse three, and he suddenly stopped and quietly apologized to us, before resuming the verse. My wife and I both were both struck by the self-deprecation, and thought, “That wasn’t necessary.” It was a quiet, little, revealing moment about his performance ethic, I think.

He apologized, at another point, saying, “I wish I could play the more ethereal pieces for you. . . but this thing,” [holding up his right hand] “looks like it’s going to take a while.”

The clear highlight for everyone, I am confident in saying, was "Wreck"--he gave a lengthy intro, and seemed to give it extra gusto and feeling.

I know I'm a novice (some might even say lurker,) but I just have to say that it was a pretty emotional night for my wife and me: the lack of any public word about his travails, prior to the concert, seeming very incongruent to his legendary status (at least, in our hearts and minds); his obvious courage in pressing on with the tour; his clear concern that we wouldn't be "disappointed" with his performance; his uncertain future; and, of course, the memories, stretching all the way back to childhood. It was long ride home after the concert. . .

Like Finesse, I am new to this group, and stumbled upon it when searching for news on Gordon’s mini-stroke. I am still surprised that there was no mention of it anywhere in the mainstream press, or even the trade papers (i.e., Rolling Stone, Billboard, etc.)

My wife and I attended the concert last night (9/20) in Whitewater, Wisc., and were stunned, like almost everyone else in the theater, to hear Gordo relate the news to us right after his opening song (Cotton Jenny). We were totally ignorant of the incident, as was the vast majority of the audience, and there was a loud groan, followed by hushed silence. As I looked around, after a few songs, more than a few people were crying.

Most of the things that occurred (Gordon’s statements, physical movements, etc.), have already been related by others who attended the shows in Harris, Minneapolis, and Wausau, so I won’t repeat them--they're practically identical to what we saw last night. But, I will add a few personal observations. . .

This is the first time I have ever seen him in concert, (I had bought tickets, way back in 1983, to a concert in Madison that was cancelled at the last minute.) So, I was just struck at how professional he was on stage—in the sense that he made it painfully clear that he cared very much whether we were pleased by his performance. After his encore (only one—by his choice, I think,) he came back out, alone, for one last bow. The whole theater was standing, of course, and he looked at us and shrugged his shoulders a bit, as if to say, “How was I?” When we roared our approval, he gave us a quick nod, showed a double-thumbs up, and nodded, as is to say, “Great!”, and he made his exit.

He had a momentary lapse of memory during “Don Quixote”, and began repeating verse one, rather than starting verse three, and he suddenly stopped and quietly apologized to us, before resuming the verse. My wife and I both were both struck by the self-deprecation, and thought, “That wasn’t necessary.” It was a quiet, little, revealing moment about his performance ethic, I think.

He apologized, at another point, saying, “I wish I could play the more ethereal pieces for you. . . but this thing,” [holding up his right hand] “looks like it’s going to take a while.”

The clear highlight for everyone, I am confident in saying, was "Wreck"--he gave a lengthy intro, and seemed to give it extra gusto and feeling.

I know I'm a novice (some might even say lurker,) but I just have to say that it was a pretty emotional night for my wife and me: the lack of any public word about his travails, prior to the concert, seeming very incongruent to his legendary status (at least, in our hearts and minds); his obvious courage in pressing on with the tour; his clear concern that we wouldn't be "disappointed" with his performance; his uncertain future; and, of course, the memories, stretching all the way back to childhood. It was long ride home after the concert. . .

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/app...73257537495703

I found this online this morning and wanted to pass it along.

I found this web-site regarding TIA's:

http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4781

Check it out. The encouraging thing is, my dad did not have a TIA, he had a stroke (albeit a mild one), and he is doing great!

I am sure Gord's doctors are on top of this situation, and will do everything they possibly can to prevent another TIA or a stroke.

Humble and gracious...he's doing the job he came to do and damn it to hell he'll get it done somehow!
He's The Man...no doubt about it...

Wonderful tribute to Gord. That kind of puts it all in perspective.

And kudos to Gitchigumee (best of luck to your dad), and to all who posted afterwards. Your efforts to lift us out of the doldrums are much appreciated. :) And, your're all so right. All
each one of us really has is just this moment.
But for this moment, let us embrace it and really live it.

Amen.

I was at the Whitewater show last night, and Gordon did a great job! Spider John opened, and Gordon thanked him several times during the performance for stepping in to help out. Gordon explained his situation to the audience, and put on a great show for us.

I was fortunate enough to speak with him after the show, and his spirits are high. He was joking, smiling, and typical Gordon. :) He apologized for not being able to sign anything for his fans, but said everyone who was backstage was more than welcome to get some pictures with him. He indicated that he expects it may take 3 months for him to get full use of his right hand back. Let's hope it's sooner for him, and that he feels some improvement every day! :)

Vickie

[quote]Originally posted by louisemnnpls:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by johnfowles:

Quote:

"please try again this coming Friday at 9 pm EST at:- http://www.glchat.notlong.com. If you, or for that matter anybody else wishing to join in to no doubt discuss the latest news, do not have a non-java applet challenged old computeer you will have to get and install mIRC John Fowles John, went to your site and first encountered a message that said "IRC is not a registered protocol." Tried the next icon and It kept typing "Trying to resolve the IP address of - usdilexnet.net and then dilexnet.net6667. Then a separate window came up that said "Java Console". Is there anything that can be done to access the chat by Friday.

All very strange Louise. I have just tried both methods as descibed on my page
http://www.glchat.notlong.com
I found that clicking the nice red button quickly got me into the correct chat room using mIRC

so please reboot if necesary and try again

I have no idea where the entirely spurious "not a registered protocol" message came from unless you have a virus with a
warped sense of humo(u)r
nor the strange address "resolving" message
Of course there is something that cvan be done/already done.Please realise anybody else who encounters the problem Louise had, that the current setup was carefully selected to continue what the chatroom founer Rik Stevens always intended,
This was a twofold approach
1.for the best possible and most fully featured and generally agreed most reliable method of using IRC (Internet Relay Chat) using a very simple to install and use programme known as mIRC (wher the "m" signifies the surname of the programmes compiler Khaled Mardam-Bey of London, England
I gave fully illustrated details for installing and fully configuring mIRC at:
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFO...tingupmIRC.htm
that is the page you will get if you press my green button
the beauty of the red button is that except for entering your nickname the first time you use it the red button link will like magic to fully
automatically open the mIRC progamme and configure it to connect you to the Lightfoot chat room channel
the mIRC installation file you would get as a download from http://www.mirc.com is is an evecutable file currently
"The mIRC cabinet named mirc62.exe. This is a rather small file of 1121693 bytes"
mir62.exe signifies version 6.2 and is a quick download on even the slowest modem connection
very simply clicking on the downloaded file will very quickly install it, and the only possible problem from then on is the opening nag screen that appears with Khaled's picture suggesting that you might like to cough up a variable sum of money to continue using it,but if you decline and simply press continue you get the chance to enter your preferred nickname and a back
up name then to the best of my knowledge the programme will continue to function perfectly ad infinitem, albeit with the nag screen on every start up. but no problem as I do have a working free serial number and associated ID available if anybody wishes to have it
2.for those reluctant or prejudiced against mIRC a universal alternative using a Java Applet tht is actually stored and downloaded from my own website
to use method 2 pressing the blue button might get you in to chat unless your computer's setup is new and, in accordance with Microsoft's legal agreement with Sun Microsystems, its Internet Explorer does not have a Microsoft JVM (Java Virtual Machine)
My new desktop has Windows XP Media Center Edition with Service Pack 2 and its Interrnet Exploder is showing that it is version 6.0.2900.21280.xpsp.sp2... and will not open any Java applets but my old Windows 98SE computer with IE6.2600.000015 has no problem loading the applet and gaining entry to the room.
Finally I do appreciate being told of problems but am at a loss to explain what you saw and must conclude that going the mIRC route is the way for you
John Fowles
I should point out that the red button method is useless unless you do indeed have mIRC installed
on your computer

A stroke on the left side doesn't always affect speech and swallowing abiities. I had an aneurysm (which caused a stroke) on the left side and was unconscious for a month. When I woke up, a asked the nurse, "Where the hell am I and how did I get here?" I had no trouble with speech or swallowing. It really depends on the area where the stroke occurs.

I'm a guitar player, and for the first three or four months, I couldn't hold a pick, nor could I fingerpick. I remember telling my sister, "If I can't play the guitar, I don't see any sense in living." Of course, I changed my mind, considering the alternative, and started working on getting my movement back. It's just about back to normal now.

The length of a stroke depends on the severity and the location in the brain where it occurs. In my case, I went into the basement to do laundry and collapsed on the floor. My son found me and called 911, and they air lifted me to Mass Medical in Boston. I don't remember a thing about that day, or the month in Boston.

People who have had a history of ruptured aneurysms are generally steered clear of most types of blood thinners. Annie pointed out a couple of new ones that seem to be getting good results. I'm not allowed blood thinners, or any drug that ends in 'in'... Aspirin, Cumadin, Motrin, Excedrin, etc. They all thin the blood.

Yes, aneurysm or any type of bleeding in the brain can be deadly, for sure. Most people don't live to tell of them. My father died of a ruptured blood vessel in his brain just four years ago. With my aneurysm, I had a 6% chance of survival, and don't really have a clue why I'm not 6 ft under. I have regular CT scans to see if the repaired aneurysm has started bleeding, or if I've developed another. As far as reversing the effects of a stroke, again, it depends where it happens in the brain. There's so much of our brain that we don't use. A fortunate stroke victim would be lucky enough to have the stroke in that part of the brain.

Depression is very common with a stroke victims. For one, their way of life takes a complete flip flop. Most of them can't work. They lose their license and have to prove that they aren't a babbling idiot in order to get them back. And they're on an emotional roller coaster. I remember crying over the most insignificant things!

I've had therapy for a year now. I can now move everything and even play guitar and fiddle again, but I still suffer from some weird type of amnesia. I'll be traveling along a road that I've been on thousands of times, and I just lose track of where I'm going, why I'm going, and what road I'm on. Until that goes away, there's no driving for me. I also had short term memory problems at first. Couldn't remember a damned thing. It has improved quite a bit with therapy.

As far a subsquent strokes occuring, avoiding another stroke takes medical intervention and a change in lifestyle. In other words, stop smoking, stop eating too much, stop drinking, stop getting stressed out, watch your blood pressure... I'm sure you've heard all this. But it's the truth. If a stroke victim doesn't want to risk the chance of a reoccurance, he has to change whatever caused it in the first place, and become resigned to the fact that he has to see a doctor regularly.

Glad to hear your father is doing so well, and I'm sure Gord's doctors have told him all of the above. Now... he just has to become committed to getting better.

Excellent info. Thanks, this is an awesome forum. I wish we could get Gord to read it. Think he does?

In my opinion ? No he does not. Some speculate that his team peeks in from time to time but that has never been verified. But you're right it would be nice to have him actually post here.

Bill :)

Not even post - just read it from time to time to see how much he is appreciated, though I'm sure the audience reaction he gets every night gives him a clue anyway, lol.

I can't remember who organized the "card" to Gord a ways back, but is there any group interest in a "hang tough" get-well or similar card to Gord now ?

I do not wish to be presumptious, just trying to think of whatever we could do in addition to our continuing prayers, spritual thoughts, or well-wishing as the case may be.

Perhaps the long time, honoured members of our forum might have a good insight into this; moreover perhaps the surprising number who have met him, or even know him as an acquaintance or colleague past or present ? Maybe they would know what kind of gesture would not be too intrusive, but instead a show of the group's love, repect, and positive thoughts of encouragement and admiration. Simply a thought to ponder. My prayer's continue as well.....

geo Steve

I doubt that Gord sits down and reads it. He has confessed that he's not into computers. I believe his band members and office crew probably peeks in from time to time. Think of it. If there were discussion groups about you on the Internet, wouldn't you be tempted to see what's going on?

Long ago, members here posted their birthday wishes to Gord...Florian printed them, sent them to me and i trekked on down Yonge St. to EMP and delivered them to the office. Gord wasn't home that day but Anne and Barry accepted the package for him.
And then I returned to my body...lol

If members wish to post their wishes for him again (birthday and health wishes) I can print them out and hopefully give them to him in November.
Individual cards can be sent to him at:
EMP
1365 Yonge St. #207,
Toronto,Ontario
M4T 2P7

Excellent! I'm going to start a new thread titled "A Way To Send Your Love and Well Wishes to Gord" so we can get out of this depressing thread called Lightfoot Concert Cancelled. THANK YOU!

TT - i don't see a crisis anywhere and if reading what is happening is upsetting then perhaps you should skip this thread. He's up and healthy and performing which is much much more than what he was doing 4 years ago at this time. take a breath and don't panic. no one else is....least of all The Man himself obviously..
Char