HOWE BACK IN HOSPITAL
Fatigue and dehydration
Medical tests have confirmed that Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe did not suffer a stroke Monday and it is more likely a combination of fatigue and dehydration that led to the hospitalization of the 86-year-old man known simply as Mr. Hockey.
“He is responding and resting comfortably with family while in hospital currently,” Howe’s son, Dr. Murray Howe, said in a text message.
The Howe family believes their father could be returning to his daughter Cathy’s home in Lubbock, Texas, within days.
Contrary to published reports, Murray Howe confirmed that his father is not in the intensive care unit.
It is known that Howe suffered a minor stroke Saturday and was unable to walk prior to this latest episode.
“He’s not walking at all,” Detroit Red Wings pro scout Mark Howe, Gordie’s son, said Sunday.
“His speech is very common. After his first stroke (on Oct. 26), within a week he was up and walking probably 40 or 50 feet. It took him quite a while. And the use of both of his arms was coming back pretty well.”
That changed when Howe suffered another significant stroke in early November.
“I know they did his first physical therapy about a week ago,” Mark Howe said. “I was there and he tried standing twice over the course of about 20 minutes, and it took just every ounce of energy he had. It totally drained him.”
Howe is in the latter stages of dementia and plagued by chronic back pain from an old hockey injury. The main concern of the Howe family is that their father not suffer.
The four children have taken turns serving as caregiver to their father since his wife and their mother Colleen died of Pick’s disease in 2009.
“For us, it’s been that way since my mom passed,” Mark Howe said. “We moved him out of the home three to four months after mom passed. We knew Dad couldn’t live alone.
“Actually, I don’t think he would have lived a year longer had we not done that. So it’s been about 5½ years he’s been living with all his kids and we’ve been trying to take advantage of the quality time.
“Now it’s just an extension of what’s been going on for 5½ years. Dad can’t partake in the same activities. We used to work in three or four fishing trips over the course of the year down on the Jersey shore, clamming and fishing as much as we could. “That part has disappeared.” The decision was made last spring to move Gordie permanently to the warmer climate of Texas, where he stays with his daughter.
Mark Howe had planned to attend Tuesday’s Red Wings-Florida Panthers game at Joe Louis Arena but left for Texas immediately upon hearing of his father’s latest setback. Brother Marty was also en route to Texas.