Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - Hamilton Spectator Articles-Dec.2004

johnfowles · 12-02-2004, 12:06 PM

quote:Originally posted by johnfowles:
Lightfoot (continued on Page G10)
I'll OCR the main page tomorrow so keep a lookout for it!!
John Fowles

OK Yer Tis Wonderful stuff thanks a gazillion The Hamilton Spectator Enjoy!!!!
Page A10 was headed by this fine picture of Dr Marcaccio

caption: Dr Michael Marcaccio, who operated on Gordon Lightfoot, said the shows will help staff see some patients make a comeback
then the heading

LIGHTFOOT

Caregivers among concert-goers

continued from (page) A1

"He wanted me to know that he had been sitting in his family room playing his guitar:' she said. "The first thing he did when he got home that night was pick up his guitar!'
That was almost two years ago - Dec. 12, 2002. It was something that many of the more than 200 or so caregivers, who were directly or indirectly involved in Lightfoot's care never expected. Indeed, it was a miracle that Lightfoot survived at all. The abdominal aneuri(y)sm that struck him down Sept. 7, 2002, very nearly killed him.
"On a scale from one-to-10, this was a 12," says Dr. Michael Marcaccio, chief of surgery for Hamilton Health Sciences, when asked to describe Lightfoot's illness. "It was certainly one of the most complex overall cases we've ever had to deal with. It's hard to be more sick in any way possible."

Marcaccio, who operated on Lightfoot several times during that initial stay, and Gauthier, the nurse manager of the ward in which he spent much of his time, were both at Lightfoot's side when he left the hospital.
They'll also be among the more than 100 caregivers attending two sold -out benefit concerts Lightfoot is performing tomorrow and Monday at Hamilton Place, in appreciation of the work they did during his many visits to the hospital over the past two years.
The shows are Lightfoot's first full concerts in over two years and the only ones he will play until the spring. Net proceeds from the more than 4,000 tickets sold at a top price of $39.50 will go to the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, the fundraising arm for the four hospital sites, including McMaster, which make up Hamilton Health Sciences. .
But for the hospital staff directly involved in his care, it'll be enough just to be able to see their "special patient" back on stage. Lightfoot made sure they all got free tickets.

Nurse Lois Roberts has been a Light*foot fan since high school. She remembers skipping class in Grade 13 from Burlington Central to see a Lightfoot show at Toronto's Massey Hall. She.even named her first son, Gordon.
When Lightfoot came for an extend*ed stay in the ward in which she works, 4- Z, she was simply awestruck.
"l had to wake him up but I didn't 'know what to call him:' she says about their first meeting. "I tried Mr. Light*foot but he wouldn't answer to that. So I tried Gord. He didn't answer to that, either. I tried Gordie and when his eyes popped open, I was so embarrassed. It sounded like I was calling my son. I never did get over the fact that it was Gordie Lightfoot there!'
It didn't take long for Roberts and "Gordie" to bond. Roberts knew most of his songs by heart, and she'd use them to raise his spirits.
then a nice picture of this nurse

remainder of the caption:
Gordon Lightfoot and used his songs and lyrics to inspire his recovery. She
even named her son after Lightfoot..

One day I could see he was kind of upset that he was taking so long to re*cover and I said 'Oh, it's not the Carefree Highway you thought it was going to be'

He just looked at me and then he got this big grin on his face!'
Roberts has many fond memories of Lightfoot. Like the time he sang Leonard Cohen's Sisters of Mercy 'o her and another nurse. It was an a capella version since Lightfoot never had his guitar at the hospital. And his voice was admittedly a little shaky, but it was pure gold to Roberts. There was also the time she cajoled him into shaving by telling him he was starting to look like Willie Nelson.
He looks at me and says: 'What's wrong with that? Willie is a great guy!
'Well, I'm sure he is: I said, 'but he has his look and you have yours. And if you don't shave today, I'm bringing you a bandanna tomorrow!" ,
Lightfoot used to wander the hospi*tal halls a lot, especially in the morn*ings when the nurses came to do his blood work. Roberts could usually find him down the hall sitting in a window where the sun shone brightest.
If he writes a song about 4-Z, I hope he writes about sitting in that morning sunbeam
instead of those soiled linen bags he kept teasing us about.

We kept asking, 'Are you going to write a song about us, Gord?' And he kept telling us,
'Yeah, I'm going to write about the soiled linen bags in the hallway!"

Roberts is seeing Lightfoot both. nights - tomorrow with her friends from the hospital and on Monday with her husband who bought her two tick*ets for her birthday.

Lightfoot is a bit of a family institu*tion in the Gauthier household. Leslie's husband, Joe, had a tradition of singing their five children to sleep with the 1976 Lightfoot song I'm Not Supposed to Care. It's a tender song about a father's unconditional love for his son.
When Gauthier's youngest son Christopher, eight then, came to visit his mother at the hospital, Lightfoot was there. Gauthier introduced Christopher to her "special patient:'
"I said, 'Chris, I want you to tell Gor*don what song Daddy sings to you when you go to bed'
chris says "I don't know its name but it goes like this...' well all of a sudden Gordie starts to sing along.. I looked at Chris and his eyes got bigger.
"I asked him, 'Who sings it better. Dad or Gord?' (Lightfoot) looked at my son and said 'Christopher it doesn't matter who's better
* what matters is that there's someone in your life that takes the time to sing it to you!'"
*
The Gauthiers are going en masse to see Lightfoot Monday. Leslie reckons her husband bought 14 tickets. 'Christopher, now 10, hopes he sings I'm Not Supposed to Care.

Dr. Marcaccio is one of the most respected surgeons in the country.
Just about everyone you talk to at the hospital says Marcaccio was the key person in Lightfoot's recovery. Lightfoot was lucky, they say, Marcaccio was available the night the artery began to rupture in his abdomen.
But Marcaccio insists it was a team effort, with as many as 140 hospital staff involved just at the bedside level. It's the sort of attention any patient in Lightfoot's condiition could expect to receive at McMaster, he says. Sure there were a few extras thrown in, press conferences and extra security.
But he believes Lightfoot's care was typical.
He's glad the concerts are giving the hospital some recognition for the work that goes on there every day, largely unnoticed. It's a huge morale boost for the staff - to be able to see a patient, in such dire straits at the beginning, recover so fully.
"It's particularly good for the people in the intensive care unit, who never saw him at his best", Marcaccio says "Seeing him back on stage is going terrific for them, with that sort of seemingly hopeless or monumental challenge that they saw. It will let them see that some of these patients do get back to their life
"It's what keeps health providers going!'

grockingham@thespec.com <mailto:grockingham@thespec.com>
905-526-3331

John Fowles

[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited December 02, 2004).]

12-02-2004, 12:06 PM	#8
johnfowles Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: New Jersey U.S.A. ex UK and Canada Posts: 4,846	quote:Originally posted by johnfowles: Lightfoot (continued on Page G10) I'll OCR the main page tomorrow so keep a lookout for it!! John Fowles OK Yer Tis Wonderful stuff thanks a gazillion The Hamilton Spectator Enjoy!!!! Page A10 was headed by this fine picture of Dr Marcaccio caption: Dr Michael Marcaccio, who operated on Gordon Lightfoot, said the shows will help staff see some patients make a comeback then the heading LIGHTFOOT Caregivers among concert-goers continued from (page) A1 "He wanted me to know that he had been sitting in his family room playing his guitar:' she said. "The first thing he did when he got home that night was pick up his guitar!' That was almost two years ago - Dec. 12, 2002. It was something that many of the more than 200 or so caregivers, who were directly or indirectly involved in Lightfoot's care never expected. Indeed, it was a miracle that Lightfoot survived at all. The abdominal aneuri(y)sm that struck him down Sept. 7, 2002, very nearly killed him. "On a scale from one-to-10, this was a 12," says Dr. Michael Marcaccio, chief of surgery for Hamilton Health Sciences, when asked to describe Lightfoot's illness. "It was certainly one of the most complex overall cases we've ever had to deal with. It's hard to be more sick in any way possible." Marcaccio, who operated on Lightfoot several times during that initial stay, and Gauthier, the nurse manager of the ward in which he spent much of his time, were both at Lightfoot's side when he left the hospital. They'll also be among the more than 100 caregivers attending two sold -out benefit concerts Lightfoot is performing tomorrow and Monday at Hamilton Place, in appreciation of the work they did during his many visits to the hospital over the past two years. The shows are Lightfoot's first full concerts in over two years and the only ones he will play until the spring. Net proceeds from the more than 4,000 tickets sold at a top price of $39.50 will go to the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, the fundraising arm for the four hospital sites, including McMaster, which make up Hamilton Health Sciences. . But for the hospital staff directly involved in his care, it'll be enough just to be able to see their "special patient" back on stage. Lightfoot made sure they all got free tickets. Nurse Lois Roberts has been a Lightfoot fan since high school. She remembers skipping class in Grade 13 from Burlington Central to see a Lightfoot show at Toronto's Massey Hall. She.even named her first son, Gordon. When Lightfoot came for an extended stay in the ward in which she works, 4- Z, she was simply awestruck. "l had to wake him up but I didn't 'know what to call him:' she says about their first meeting. "I tried Mr. Lightfoot but he wouldn't answer to that. So I tried Gord. He didn't answer to that, either. I tried Gordie and when his eyes popped open, I was so embarrassed. It sounded like I was calling my son. I never did get over the fact that it was Gordie Lightfoot there!' It didn't take long for Roberts and "Gordie" to bond. Roberts knew most of his songs by heart, and she'd use them to raise his spirits. then a nice picture of this nurse remainder of the caption: Gordon Lightfoot and used his songs and lyrics to inspire his recovery. She even named her son after Lightfoot.. One day I could see he was kind of upset that he was taking so long to recover and I said 'Oh, it's not the Carefree Highway you thought it was going to be' He just looked at me and then he got this big grin on his face!' Roberts has many fond memories of Lightfoot. Like the time he sang Leonard Cohen's Sisters of Mercy 'o her and another nurse. It was an a capella version since Lightfoot never had his guitar at the hospital. And his voice was admittedly a little shaky, but it was pure gold to Roberts. There was also the time she cajoled him into shaving by telling him he was starting to look like Willie Nelson. He looks at me and says: 'What's wrong with that? Willie is a great guy! 'Well, I'm sure he is: I said, 'but he has his look and you have yours. And if you don't shave today, I'm bringing you a bandanna tomorrow!" , Lightfoot used to wander the hospital halls a lot, especially in the mornings when the nurses came to do his blood work. Roberts could usually find him down the hall sitting in a window where the sun shone brightest. If he writes a song about 4-Z, I hope he writes about sitting in that morning sunbeam instead of those soiled linen bags he kept teasing us about. We kept asking, 'Are you going to write a song about us, Gord?' And he kept telling us, 'Yeah, I'm going to write about the soiled linen bags in the hallway!" Roberts is seeing Lightfoot both. nights - tomorrow with her friends from the hospital and on Monday with her husband who bought her two tickets for her birthday. Lightfoot is a bit of a family institution in the Gauthier household. Leslie's husband, Joe, had a tradition of singing their five children to sleep with the 1976 Lightfoot song I'm Not Supposed to Care. It's a tender song about a father's unconditional love for his son. When Gauthier's youngest son Christopher, eight then, came to visit his mother at the hospital, Lightfoot was there. Gauthier introduced Christopher to her "special patient:' "I said, 'Chris, I want you to tell Gordon what song Daddy sings to you when you go to bed' chris says "I don't know its name but it goes like this...' well all of a sudden Gordie starts to sing along.. I looked at Chris and his eyes got bigger. "I asked him, 'Who sings it better. Dad or Gord?' (Lightfoot) looked at my son and said 'Christopher it doesn't matter who's better what matters is that there's someone in your life that takes the time to sing it to you!'" * The Gauthiers are going en masse to see Lightfoot Monday. Leslie reckons her husband bought 14 tickets. 'Christopher, now 10, hopes he sings I'm Not Supposed to Care. Dr. Marcaccio is one of the most respected surgeons in the country. Just about everyone you talk to at the hospital says Marcaccio was the key person in Lightfoot's recovery. Lightfoot was lucky, they say, Marcaccio was available the night the artery began to rupture in his abdomen. But Marcaccio insists it was a team effort, with as many as 140 hospital staff involved just at the bedside level. It's the sort of attention any patient in Lightfoot's condiition could expect to receive at McMaster, he says. Sure there were a few extras thrown in, press conferences and extra security. But he believes Lightfoot's care was typical. He's glad the concerts are giving the hospital some recognition for the work that goes on there every day, largely unnoticed. It's a huge morale boost for the staff - to be able to see a patient, in such dire straits at the beginning, recover so fully. "It's particularly good for the people in the intensive care unit, who never saw him at his best", Marcaccio says "Seeing him back on stage is going terrific for them, with that sort of seemingly hopeless or monumental challenge that they saw. It will let them see that some of these patients do get back to their life "It's what keeps health providers going!' grockingham@thespec.com <mailto:grockingham@thespec.com> 905-526-3331 John Fowles [This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited December 02, 2004).]