A New Article about Gordy's Health

[Lee]

Folks:
This article is from the CTV News website tonite...I cut out redundant info as seen in other related articles....((((WE LOVE YA GORDY! CYBERHUGS TO YOU,YOUR FAMILY & THE BAND))))
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Hamilton, Ontario — The surgeon who operated on Gordon Lightfoot says the singer has a rare and serious condition -- a weakness in a blood vessel in his abdomen.

Dr. Michael Marcaccio, a gastrointestinal specialist, explained Lightfoot's condition at a briefing Monday at McMaster University Medical Centre, where the 63-year-old singer remains in the intensive care unit.

Lightfoot was taken to the hospital by air ambulance early Sunday after experiencing severe stomach pains and cancelling an appearance Saturday night in his home town of Orillia, Ont.

"If Mr. Lightfoot weren't such a healthy man, he might not have survived," Marcaccio said.

"We're dealing with the issues and things are as good as they could be at this point."

He didn't divulge a lot of detail about the ailment, noting that the family "is coping with lots, obviously, and we want to respect their need for privacy."

"In general terms, the problem relates to weakness in a blood vessel," he said. "It's probably been there a long time and it started to bleed. And its particular location and the nature of the structures around it is what's made its care a little bit difficult.

"So he's had a bit of a rough ride for the last day and a half and . . . we're taking this as it comes. It's a situation where we can only deal with what's presented to us."

Lightfoot's wife, Elizabeth, was keeping vigil at the hospital, and several members of his band were at the news briefing and said they're grateful for the care he's receiving. They also acknowledged the concern of fans.

Friends were surprised by Lightfoot's sudden illness, noting that he quit drinking 20 years ago and exercises regularly.

Bass player Rick Haynes has said Lightfoot works out four days a week and runs about 16 kilometres a week.

Marcaccio indicated there's nothing in Lightfoot's past that would have suggested he was likely to become sick.

"It's a problem that could happen to any one of us in this room, and there's no good reason why it's happened to Mr. Lightfoot," he said.

Marcaccio noted that Lightfoot has had a number of procedures since arriving at the hospital.

"It's not one specific treatment," he said, adding that the problem is within Lightfoot's abdomen and within an artery. "It's a whole range of things and it's been ongoing."

But he called it a serious condition.

"This type of problem has lots of subtleties to it, lots of little issues to deal with, and it's a matter of watching everything and reacting to anything that develops," he said.

Marcaccio was also asked about possible long-term effects.

Other patients who've been treated for this type of condition - "there aren't many of them" - are fine and leading normal lives or have "some issues to deal with," he replied.

And some patients did not survive, but "you could say that about appendicitis too," he noted.

The illness means he's not expected to take the stage again until October, his manager, Barry Harvey, said Sunday.

Performances this month in Moncton, N.B., Charlottetown, Halifax, Saint John, N.B., Sydney, N.S., and St. John's, Nfld., have been cancelled.

But a series of U.S. dates, starting Oct. 17 in East Lansing, Mich., were "expected to be quite secure at this time," Harvey said.



[This message has been edited by ColoradoSue (edited September 09, 2002).]

[ColoradoSue]

Folks:
This article is from the CTV News website tonite...I cut out redundant info as seen in other related articles....((((WE LOVE YA GORDY! CYBERHUGS TO YOU,YOUR FAMILY & THE BAND))))
************************************
Hamilton, Ontario — The surgeon who operated on Gordon Lightfoot says the singer has a rare and serious condition -- a weakness in a blood vessel in his abdomen.

Dr. Michael Marcaccio, a gastrointestinal specialist, explained Lightfoot's condition at a briefing Monday at McMaster University Medical Centre, where the 63-year-old singer remains in the intensive care unit.

Lightfoot was taken to the hospital by air ambulance early Sunday after experiencing severe stomach pains and cancelling an appearance Saturday night in his home town of Orillia, Ont.

"If Mr. Lightfoot weren't such a healthy man, he might not have survived," Marcaccio said.

"We're dealing with the issues and things are as good as they could be at this point."

He didn't divulge a lot of detail about the ailment, noting that the family "is coping with lots, obviously, and we want to respect their need for privacy."

"In general terms, the problem relates to weakness in a blood vessel," he said. "It's probably been there a long time and it started to bleed. And its particular location and the nature of the structures around it is what's made its care a little bit difficult.

"So he's had a bit of a rough ride for the last day and a half and . . . we're taking this as it comes. It's a situation where we can only deal with what's presented to us."

Lightfoot's wife, Elizabeth, was keeping vigil at the hospital, and several members of his band were at the news briefing and said they're grateful for the care he's receiving. They also acknowledged the concern of fans.

Friends were surprised by Lightfoot's sudden illness, noting that he quit drinking 20 years ago and exercises regularly.

Bass player Rick Haynes has said Lightfoot works out four days a week and runs about 16 kilometres a week.

Marcaccio indicated there's nothing in Lightfoot's past that would have suggested he was likely to become sick.

"It's a problem that could happen to any one of us in this room, and there's no good reason why it's happened to Mr. Lightfoot," he said.

Marcaccio noted that Lightfoot has had a number of procedures since arriving at the hospital.

"It's not one specific treatment," he said, adding that the problem is within Lightfoot's abdomen and within an artery. "It's a whole range of things and it's been ongoing."

But he called it a serious condition.

"This type of problem has lots of subtleties to it, lots of little issues to deal with, and it's a matter of watching everything and reacting to anything that develops," he said.

Marcaccio was also asked about possible long-term effects.

Other patients who've been treated for this type of condition - "there aren't many of them" - are fine and leading normal lives or have "some issues to deal with," he replied.

And some patients did not survive, but "you could say that about appendicitis too," he noted.

The illness means he's not expected to take the stage again until October, his manager, Barry Harvey, said Sunday.

Performances this month in Moncton, N.B., Charlottetown, Halifax, Saint John, N.B., Sydney, N.S., and St. John's, Nfld., have been cancelled.

But a series of U.S. dates, starting Oct. 17 in East Lansing, Mich., were "expected to be quite secure at this time," Harvey said.



[This message has been edited by ColoradoSue (edited September 09, 2002).]