Julie Schwartz is back in the hospital after taking a fall at home last week. Cousin Harlan reports:
HARLAN ELLISON
– Wednesday, January 21 2004 18:48:56
Julie is, as I reported, back in Winthrop Hospital. As bad as the last interlude was, this one may be worse. He fell, early (very early) Thursday morning, MedicAlert called Andrea (grand-daughter) and reported they were getting no response from him. He was ambulanced to the hospital, and was in emergency till Saturday. He’s now in a private room and Andrea told me he is “very confused.” She sounded properly worried. He’s seriously disoriented, woozy, at a loss for where he is, etcetera. His sodium level was very low, and the doctors think that may account for it; but that’s a prelim evaluation.
This will get worse before it gets better, but one thing is now for sure, and it’s the eventuality most of us have long been dreading. He cannot live alone, on his own, any more. I’ll keep you informed — I haven’t called him in his “fuzzy” condition, he likely wouldn’t be able to respond — but my fear is great. Since the death of his wife, Julie has lived self-sufficiently. He values his independence mightily.
The days ahead will be taxing.
Paul Kupperberg updates via email on Thursday:
“I’m happy to say that I just spoke to him (1:45 PM-ish) and he sounded like his usual cantankerous old self, if not sick and tired of being sick and tired. (Part of the reason for reported the fuzziness and confusion MAY have been due to the fact that he had, for reasons not known, experienced an 85% hearing loss yesterday; as of today, he’s back up to 85% of his hearing.) He says his docs think he’ll be able to go home (that is, to his grandson’s home) in the next few days.
“Julie’s always held a special place in the hearts of those of us who have worked with and known him. He’s not only a living legend but a force of nature… although I guess at 88, even a force of nature sometimes needs our prayers and good thoughts.”
Mark Evanier has put up an email address at schwartz@newsfromme.com to collect notes from well-wishers. One assumes, if you are a pretty girl, that pictures of smiles will also be appreciated.
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