Great Movies
Dear Readers: We have been getting many requests asking for an update on Roger's health, and so here it is. First of all he THANKS YOU! so very much for continuing to visit the website, watching Ebert & Roeper, and for sending so many messages with get-well wishes and messages about continuing thoughts and prayers for him. That means so much to him and to us.
Roger was making good progress and was ready to go to his next phase of treatment, which would have been physical therapy to regain his strength. Well last night Roger had minor surgery, so today, as you can imagine, he feels a bit less cheerful. The doctors remain optimistic about his recovery, however, and say that the physical therapy will be delayed for only a few days.
As I said before, the most frustrating aspect is that his progress is not always linear. But the doctors told us right from the start to expect this non-linear recovery. They said that there will bumps in the road along the way that seem like setbacks, and then he will reach a point where he will make a rapid recovery. Darn that surgery! Please excuse me if I don't sound like my usual cheerleader self, but if you had seen him last week, even yesterday, when he was doing so well. We were secretly back to using his computer. He wanted to surprise everyone with messages.
He has been so interested in the outside world, including the war and global warming; his various tv, newspaper and internet enterprises, and his new book, "Awake In The Dark," which will be published this fall by the University of Chicago Press. The doctors and nurses have been absolutely charmed by his witty personality. And he continues to entertain them with the eclectic music he downloaded on his iPod.
To concentrate on the positives, however, I am encouraged by his vital signs which are all stable. (Again that word that I have come to love so much.) And so I know that we still have much to be grateful for. They say that Roger is very strong and has weathered this all very well. (I say its times for a little less weather and more sun.) As Mother Theresa has said: ""God never gives us more than we can handle. But sometimes I wish he didn't trust us so much."
Roger is blessed to be cared for by very bright, and highly educated and trained doctors and nurses who are uniformly some of the best in the country. They are adept at providing skilled and proficient medical care, and just as important, they provide it in a nurturing manner. They are so encouraging to Roger. I call them Roger's medical dream team.
Please keep sending healing thoughts Roger's way and your best prayers for a speedy recovery. And I know it sounds corny to some, but please keep visualizing him enveloped by warm, bright, healing light! That, along with Roger's medical dream team, should ensure his full recovery.
Many thanks, Chaz Ebert
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
