L.A. Times Story on Bill Walton's Health Problems
RandyStoner
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.column
T.J. SIMERS
Bill Walton is back on his feet
May 22, 2010 | 5:25 p.m.
"Once in a while you get shown the light
in the strangest of places if you look at it right.'' —- Jerry Garcia
Bill Walton is grateful he's not dead, but it wasn't too long ago, he
says, "that I went from thinking I was going to die, to wanting to
die, to being afraid I was going to live.
» Don't miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your
inbox.
"You have no idea where I have been.''
He says this while coming to his feet on a perch behind his San Diego
home overlooking Balboa Park, the hair just as disheveled but gray now
rather than red, standing now on two fused ankles, medical talk of
amputating one of his feet fortunately never going beyond just that.
He raises his arms to the sky, which he does a lot these days, sturdy
for now on two shot knees, "hands and wrists,'' as he says, "that
don't work,'' two titanium rods and four bolts holding his spine in
place.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world,'' he says while standing there
reaching for the sky with raised arms. "I can't stop smiling.''
Thirty-six orthopedic surgeries in his 57 years of life to date, pain
in his spine so excruciating, so relentless the past two years he lay
flat on the floor of his home, recoiling in fear if anyone came within
five feet of him, eating his meals on the floor, crawling and sliding
to the bathroom.
"When you're on the ground and can't move, there is no difference
between morning and night,'' he says. "It's endless. You just want it
to go away, but it's every day to where you see nothing but that
forever.''
He was playing basketball for UCLA 36 years ago, a game against
Washington State, he's high in the air and "when you're high above the
basket and someone comes running from the other side of the court and
takes your legs out from under you, I'd call that a deliberate act of
vicious dirty play,'' he says.
"That's where my back problems started. You just deal with it," says
Walton, who played 10 years in the NBA. Coach Wooden taught us a lot,
and one of his mantras applies here: 'Things work out best for those
that make the best out of the way things work out.' ''
But then he could no longer deal with it. "One of the great fallacies
in life is that it's just about hard work and if you just try a little
harder,'' he says.
He tried everything, and nothing worked. He got off an airplane at the
San Diego airport two years ago and crumbled to the ground. He fought
back, but then the pain became so debilitating he was flat on his back
again.
"You could never know, there are people out there who do know, but you
have to be there,'' he says. "Hope dies last, but you need to see
there is a tomorrow. But in time I had no reason to believe.''
So he began thinking about taking his own life. "I was standing there
on the edge of the bridge,'' he says. "I had a life that was not worth
living. I had nothing, nothing.''
And what would Coach John Wooden have said had Walton taken the leap?
"What he said to me over and over again,'' he says. "You're the
slowest learner I've ever had.''
Then he's on his feet again, his arms raised to the sky, and get used
to it, he does it about every five minutes or so, while saying the
same thing over and over again: "I'm back in the game of life.''
Broadcaster Jim Gray found the doctor, and the doctor, Dr. Steven
Garfin, was doing innovative spinal work. "I just said, make it
stop,'' says Walton, and although given no assurances, he underwent 8½
hours of surgery.
Seven months later, seven months of more agony, one day he tells his
wife, Lori, "I feel it's turning. I told her, I think I'm going to
make it.''
Two days later he's riding his bike, turning the corner to his home
when a teenager, trying to impress some young girls, jumps on a
skateboard and dive bombs the bike rider. He loses control, plows into
Walton, breaking Walton's pelvis and tailbone.
"But the fusion holds,'' he says, the kids running off and Walton
lying in the street until neighbors find him.
Three more months on his back where he cannot move, on the bottom
again, Walton says, but he's on his feet now, and you would never know
where he's been.
"Bill Walton 15.0,'' he says. "I'm up every morning at 3:30 saying
'let's go.' In the pool at 4:30, so many things I want to do.''
He's working on education projects, music, the environment, while also
getting the word out on Dr. Garfin and what he can do to save lives
seemingly lost.
"Go take a look at the people in Dr. Garfin's waiting room,'' he says.
"You have people with these erector sets on their heads, tubes coming
out, but look at their spouses and the look on their faces. Broken
spirits, broken dreams. I feel for those people.''
He's also pumping up awareness in the "Million Dollar Challenge,'' to
raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation to buy more
wheelchairs and prosthetics.
"I'm building a new career,'' he says, his enthusiasm overwhelming
again and NBA basketball just not as much fun without him behind a
microphone. "My goal? I want to make a difference in the lives of
people.''
He still loves basketball, his admiration for Chick Hearn right there
with Garcia and Bob Dylan, and he had the Lakers taking on the Celtics
in the Finals weeks ago.
When this season began, though, he was still on a cane, the phone
ringing and it was NBA Commissioner David Stern inviting Walton to
join him at Staples Center for the Lakers' opener.
"He says he's going to have the honor of putting the championship ring
on my son's finger and he would like me to be his guest,'' Walton
says. "I call Luke, and tell him I'm up in the suites with the
commissioner and don't know if I'll get down to see him.
"Luke is a polite young man, but he interrupts,'' and as Walton
recounts the moment, he stops and he cannot speak. Time passes.
"Nothing like the pride a father has for his son,'' he manages to say.
He's crying now. "Luke says to me, 'Dad, you're a player; get out of
that suite and get down on the floor where you belong.'
"I'm sorry,'' Walton says, while wiping away tears of joy, and you
guessed it, he's on his feet again, the Bill Walton everyone remembers
— reaching for the sky with every reason to believe now he'll be able
to touch it.
Ray OHara
"RandyStoner" <rangy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:daa56848-f27c-46f2...@v29g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.column
T.J. SIMERS
Bill Walton is back on his feet
================================================================
It's natures revenge for his being a vegetarian and all that macrobiotic
dietary crap.
Andrew
>
> http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.column
>
> T.J. SIMERS
>
> Bill Walton is back on his feet
Thanks for posting that Randy. I knew Bill had had it pretty bad over
the last couple of years, but didn't know the specifics... Glad he's on
the mend now...
Andrew
So, when nature made you an idiot, what was that revenge for?
Ray OHara
"Andrew" <amur...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:85tdac...@mid.individual.net...
his bones couldn't hold up to the pounding on that diet.
meat is high in protien and other good stuff.
late in his career he started eating a more balanced diet and a lot of his
injury problems went away.
maybe if you knre something other than the inside of your ass you'd have
seen that..
vegetarianism is fine for a swami and earth mothers but when you're banging
with Kareem and Cowans you better have a good meal
Andrew
> "Andrew" <amur...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:85tdac...@mid.individual.net...
>> Ray OHara wrote:
>>> "RandyStoner" <rangy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:daa56848-f27c-46f2...@v29g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.column
>>>
>>> T.J. SIMERS
>>>
>>> Bill Walton is back on his feet
>>>
>>> ================================================================
>>>
>>> It's natures revenge for his being a vegetarian and all that macrobiotic
>>> dietary crap.
>> So, when nature made you an idiot, what was that revenge for?
>
>
> his bones couldn't hold up to the pounding on that diet.
> meat is high in protien and other good stuff.
> late in his career he started eating a more balanced diet and a lot of his
> injury problems went away.
Um. No. His injury problems didn't go away later in career, and if you'd
have read the article, you'd have discovered that his injury problems
didn't go away even after his career.
Not to mention that it is very possible to eat a balanced diet high in
"protien and other good stuff" without eating meat...
bunghole
<everybody's.d...@that.rag.com> wrote:
> On 2010-05-24 04:10:32 +0900, Andrew <amur...@hotmail.com> said:
>
> > RandyStoner wrote:
>
> >>http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.co...
>
> >> T.J. SIMERS
>
> >> Bill Walton is back on his feet
>
> > Thanks for posting that Randy. I knew Bill had had it pretty bad over
> > the last couple of years, but didn't know the specifics... Glad he's on
> > the mend now...
>
> hour of your time if you can spare it:
>
> Fantastic interview with Bill Walton this afternoon on WFAN:
>
> http://www.wfan.com/
>
> (Look under Mike Francesa for the interview link)
>
> JimK
> --
> Peace,
> Steve
I have had the personal pleasure of providing IT support for Dr.
Garfin, who unlike many high level specialists is a genuinely empathic
doctor who really cares about his patients and treats everyone he
interacts with respect and concern.
Ken Fortenberry
> I have had the personal pleasure of providing IT support for Dr.
> Garfin, who unlike many high level specialists is a genuinely empathic
> doctor who really cares about his patients and treats everyone he
> interacts with respect and concern.
Even after all these years Usenet never ceases to amuse me. Here
we have someone who is obviously trying to give a heartfelt and
genuine endorsement of someone with whom he has had a personal
and professional relationship, ... and he calls himself bunghole.
Now, who in their right mind would take seriously a recommendation
and personal endorsement from a bunghole ?
LOL !!!
--
Ken Fortenberry
Lfh
wrote:
> Now, who in their right mind would take seriously a recommendation
> and personal endorsement from a bunghole ?
Heh. Prolly why no one ever takes anything Kenny-boy says seriously.
Fred
ML
> http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-20100523,0,3749250,full.co...
Thank you so much.
Great story, though heartbreaking.
I've always loved Walton...
and I feel so for all those in pain.
Corky
8th row, center, for GD. We were in our seats about a half hour before
showtime when Walton and his wife came and sat in the seats directly
in front of us. When the band came out we stood up and I had a
teriffic view of the middle of his back. A little while later some
other folks came along and informed Bill that he was in the wrong
seats. They moved down about 3 rows. I could then just see over his
head. I got him to autograph my ticket. He is a very nice guy. I'm
glad he is doing better.
Corky