Here's another article from today's GLobe & Mail featuring a comment from Gordy's friend/promoter, Bernie Fiedler..otherwise, I cut & pasted it the whole thing below.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...al_temp/1/1/2/
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Lightfoot undergoes stomach surgery
Friends hold vigil as illness forces singer
to cancel concerts in midst of sold-out tour
By DOUG SAUNDERS, JAMES RUSK AND JILL MAHONEY
Monday, September 9, 2002 – Page A3
TORONTO, HAMILTON and EDMONTON -- Musicians and family members spent the weekend fearing for the life of Gordon Lightfoot, the man who crafted a lengthy string of instantly recognizable songs from pure Canadiana and helped establish this country's musical voice.
Mr. Lightfoot, 63, cancelled a concert in his hometown of Orillia, Ont., on Saturday night after he developed serious stomach pains. Doctors at the local hospital diagnosed a gastrointestinal ailment and rushed him by air ambulance to McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton, where emergency stomach surgery was performed yesterday. He is currently conscious and in intensive care, doctors said.
Rick Haynes, a long-time friend and bassist in Mr. Lightfoot's band, said he and his friends had endured a "pretty long last 24 hours," but that they now expect Mr. Lightfoot to recover.
At his bedside was the group of musical sidemen who have performed with him almost continuously over the past 35 years, from his beginnings in the Yorkville folk-music foment of the mid-1960s through his commercial successes of the 1970s. After a dissolute and reclusive period, he gained a new following and experienced a creative renaissance during the 1990s.
He was in the midst of an artistically successful tour and about to record a new album when the illness struck. He was set to begin a sold-out tour of the Maritimes next week, which was to be followed by a performance at Toronto's Massey Hall, his favourite venue.
Doctors in Hamilton described him as having been in "very serious condition" when he arrived, although they said the family had asked that they not reveal the precise diagnosis or nature of the surgery. Last night his condition was upgraded from critical to serious.
"Right now is a very difficult time for the whole family," Mr. Haynes said. "It's challenging. Everybody's been up all night. Gord's getting excellent care in there."
However, those close to Mr. Lightfoot said they feared for his life most of the weekend and it appeared for a while that he might not survive the illness.
Bernie Fiedler, Mr. Lightfoot's promoter, said he was consumed with worry yesterday. "I'm really in distress about this whole thing," he said in an interview. "You know, he's my best friend, so I mean, I'm very concerned here."
Mr. Fiedler said he spoke with Mr. Lightfoot's two youngest children, a boy and a girl who are under the age of 14, and that they seem to be handling the situation well. "They seem to be cool. . . . I mean, anybody in critical condition, there's a possibility of death. So you know, I think . . . they don't want to alarm the kids or anything like that. But it is fairly serious, I can tell you."
Mr. Lightfoot was born on Nov. 17, 1938, and has won 17 Juno Awards and has had five Grammy nominations for such songs as The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald, If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Ribbon of Darkness and Canadian Railroad Trilogy.
He became a household name during the 1970s, when a string of highly memorable hits coincided with the debut of Canadian-content broadcast policies, which required radio stations to play a large quota of domestic music.
Recently, his songs have been rerecorded with synthesized rhythms as dance-club hits and covered by dozens of other musicians.
The cancelled Orillia concert, the second of two dates, was to have been a benefit to raise money for the local hospital where Mr. Lightfoot was first taken. Audience members at his Friday night show said he appeared in excellent form, although there were possible signs that all was not well.
"He was in good spirits, he chatted with the audience and played some new songs," said Dan MacDonald of Mississauga. "But a couple of us noticed that he'd only played one encore, and he looked really tired and fatigued when he played it."
Mr. Haynes said the family is pleased with Mr. Lightfoot's progress. "The doctor has told us the next few days will see a lot of improvement. . . . He's definitely getting better. He's feeling much better. He's not in as much pain as he was yesterday."
The surgery was performed by Michael Marcaccio, director of surgery for Hamilton Health Sciences, who is a gastrointestinal specialist. There was internal bleeding before the surgery, he said.
Mr. Haynes said he does not believe further surgery will be needed. "We're looking at recovery now."
Friends pointed out that it has been 20 years since Mr. Lightfoot quit drinking and that he is in good shape today, exercising regularly at his ravine home in Toronto's Rosedale neighbourhood, with cigarettes his only vice.
"Gord is in excellent physical condition," Mr. Haynes said. "He works out four days a week. He runs 10 miles a week. The doctor was surprised at his physical condition. His health is excellent. That is why the doctor is looking forward to a speedy recovery."
