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***Bill Thomas
suffered a stroke Thursday night, January 19 See his progress below.*** Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Great news for Bill and the family today - Bill is going home!! His blood pressure is under control without the I.V. - well within safe limits - and the doctor has decided he is ready to be discharged. This is only a step in the process, of course, as Bill is starting a new and challenging phase of his recovery. But at least he'll be in familiar, comfortable surroundings, reunited with his children after these long five days.
Facing the unforeseen financial aspect of his recovery is a challenge that has just begun for Bill and family. Please help us to continue to spread the word about Bill's fund. Go to www.bigsmithband.com to donate and see all of the past updates about Bill. We'd like to thank Jeff Wiens for being on task keeping the Big Smith website updated over the last few days. Continue to check back in for the latest updates on Bill's recovery. And a big thank you to the online community of Big Smith fans and Facebook followers for helping us spread the word. Many of you came to know Bill's unique wit via his role as Big Smith's Facebook master, and we know you are eagerly waiting for his return. I'll do my best….ahem…. We are currently making plans to allow Big Smith to fulfill our existing performance obligations. We can tell you that we will be performing this Saturday at Lil' Dallas in Fair Grove as scheduled. Reed Herron from Speakeasy will nobly fill in for Bill. We will have a jar set up for those of you in attendance that would like to donate cash, and will continue to provide you that opportunity over the next few months. Today we thank Julie Sill and the people at Common Grounds coffee for providing breakfast muffins and a whole big thing of coffee. Visits from Walter Kelly, also Anna Thomas and daughter Lavender warmed our hearts last night. Cody Russell once again helped us by coordinating and delivering food. It is with happiness and relief that we are able to leave Fayetteville, but it also bittersweet as we think of the wonderful people in this community that stepped up at every turn. We have not paid for a meal or a bed the entire time. You people are wonderful. Continue healing Bill! We love you! Love to all, Monday, January 23, 2012 An update on Bill Thomas:  After yesterday's update was posted, we got the word that Bill wanted visitors. We (me, Liz, Jody, Myki) hadn't seen Bill for nearly two days, so we were very excited. We were encouraged by the improvement in Bill's communication, not only in his ability to speak clearly and convey his thoughts, but how he was aware of his vocabulary flaws and the way he drew humor from it. The best of all, however, was when a short time later he asked to hold a guitar for the first time. You can imagine that we were concerned about the results. It's hard to convey the wave of relief we felt when Bill started nimbly finger-picking lovely major chords, with his famously sure sense of rhythm, complete with hammer-ons and pull-offs (sorry, that's a little guitar geek talk going on there). For Jody and I, who had sat with him the night of his stroke in the emergency room, to see the difference between Thursday night and Sunday afternoon was especially comforting. All reports from doctors and family assure us that Bill is making steady daily progress. The CAT scan from today showed no problems, and his headaches have lessened in both strength and severity. The only concern at this point is that the doctors had hoped to remove him from intravenous blood pressure medication and put him on a strictly oral regimen, but Bill is not quite there yet. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that he will be able to go home soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow (Tuesday). We wish to thank Jenny Dietzel, who brought us muffins and scones for breakfast; Archie and the good guys at the Flying Burrito Company for packing up an awesome taco bar for the waiting room; and to U.S. Pizza Co. for providing our supper. The thing we've been saying about Fayetteville is "Bill picked a good town to get sick in." The support and love we feel here is hard to overstate. Last night Abby Richardson brought us a miniature hut of "worry dolls," which was very cool of her. Today we were happy to have another visit from Becky O'Neal who brought by another book of information for Bill's family. And the Petit family's "Waneetah House" continues to provide a place of rest and comfort for us - we really appreciate it. Help us spread the word about the fund for Bill and his family - "Bill's bills" we're calling it. You can donate online at www.bigsmithband.com, or send a check or money order to: Cousin Bill's donation fund Benefit concerts are in the early stages of planning - stay tuned. Continue healing Bill! We love you! Love to all, Sunday, January 22, 2012 An update on Bill Thomas: See an update on Bill's progress below. But first, we have set up a fund to help with Bill and Carrie's upcoming financial challenges. They have insurance, but as you are all aware there will be many additional expenses. And of course Bill has concerns about when he'll be able to resume playing music for a living. Here is how you can contribute. Electronically: Via the mail: Cousin Bill donation fund The doctors are pleased with Bill's progress. They have him sedated most of the time today to allow his body to rest and heal; Bill has been determined to get up and walk around to take care of his own needs, but that doesn't work well with his medication, which makes him lightheaded, nor with the medical equipment he's connected to. Bill's wife Carrie is with him around the clock. She texted an update today, and here it is verbatim: "Good report from neurosurgeon today. Said Bill's doing really well. Said he probably won't even qualify for inpatient rehab, but will have outpatient speech, physical and occupational therapy. No indication of discharge date. Bill's still struggling w/ headaches and nausea and nightmares/confusion upon waking. He continues to get stronger and his speech continues to improve." Due to Bill's headaches, the doctor has scheduled another CAT scan for 4:00 Monday morning, so we'll know more then. We've been told that this kind of pain is normal, and is expected to last 48 hours, so we're hopeful that Bill's pain will subside soon. In the meantime we can also report that the grip of his right hand is nearly as strong as his unaffected left hand. That's good news for a bass player! Thanks to: Visitors have included: Get well soon Bill! We love you! Love to all, Saturday, January 21 4:25 p.m. An update on Bill’s condition: Bill is showing continued daily improvement. This morning he was able to communicate better than yesterday, with more clarity. He has found his sense of humor, which we had not seen before today, and perhaps most exciting for fans of Bill’s music, he asked for a guitar to play (a couple showed up real quick)! The third and probably final CAT scan, from early this morning, confirms that the bleeding in the brain has stopped. He has been having bad headaches today, however, and the pain medication to treat that is making him nauseous. The CAT scan does show signs of some swelling in the brain, which explains the headaches, but the doctors are vigilant in getting that under control. Your continued prayers and support are needed. The support from Bill’s fans, friends and family has been overwhelming. We’d like to particularly thank the Greenhouse Grill and the Pesto Café, two fine Fayetteville restaurants, for providing food to the family, and Josh and Eloise Petit for providing lodging at their guest house. Cody Russel and Tanya Shylock have delivered food, and many of Bill’s friends have offered places to stay for the family. Thank you to Becky O’Neal for the book. The solar flares are causing us some difficulty with our electronic devices here in the waiting room, on the other hand we may get to see the northern lights in Arkansas tonight! Get better Bill! We love you! Love to all, Mark January 20, 2012 Big Smith's bass player, our cousin, brother and friend Bill Thomas, suffered a stroke last night while we were at our venue in West Siloam Springs, Oklahoma. Bill had a hemorrhagic stroke, which means he had bleeding in his brain, brought on by high blood pressure. After being diagnosed at the hospital in West Siloam Springs, he was taken by ambulance to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas and is now in intensive care. Bill lost some of his ability to communicate, which the doctor described as expressive aphasia, and has also lost some feeling in the right side of his body. He is stable now that his blood pressure is under control. The doctors expect that Bill will require physical rehabilitation and speech therapy. As is the case with stroke patients, it is too early to predict how swift and complete his recovery will be. Today he shows improvement; his speech has improved and he has walked a lap around the intensive care unit. Much of the feeling on his right side has returned, although there is still impairment in his arm and hand. He has had two CAT scans so far, helping us to confirm his stability, and he will have another one tomorrow. We appreciate the phone calls and text messages of well-wishes, prayer and support, and the help offered by many in the Fayetteville and Springfield communities. Bill is well-loved by many, many people and your encouragement means a lot. Please check back here for periodic updates, and feel free to post your messages to Bill on our Facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/bigsmithband or via email to cousins@bigsmithband.com. If you would like to send correspondence via the mail, send it to: Cousin Bill We wish you a speedy recovery Bill! We love you! |
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 |  Make a Donation to help Bill Thomas here: Mail checks or money order,
made out to "Big Smith" with "Cousin Bill" on the memo line, to: Cousin Bill donation fund 2020 N Douglas Ave Springfield, MO 65803 Well-wishes and get-well cards are appreciated too! |