God...

[silversolitaire]

I'm shaking all over. My stomach clenched so hard for a second that I'm still feeling sick now that it's slowly uncramping again. So, I'm sniffing around the usual news sites, getting my daily fix. I'm also checking imdb.com because there's usually interesting news there, too. And then I see this...

Mauled Roy Died for a Minute, Skull Fragment Kept in Stomach

Part of mauled magician Roy Horn's skull was removed and stored in his stomach during a radical operation where the illusionist officially died for almost a minute. According to American tabloid Star, the 59-year-old German performer suffered a stroke and is paralyzed on his left side after being horrifically attacked on-stage by a white tiger on October 3. They describe his condition as being "far worse" than previously thought. A source tells the publication, "Roy has been fighting like mad to stay alive. Anyone else would have died by now." The extreme procedure involving his skull - called a hemicraniectomy - may have saved his life by reducing the amount of pressure from brain swelling. The skull fragment was kept in his stomach for safekeeping and to keep the bone marrow alive. Dr. Joshua Bederson, a neurosurgeon at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center, tells the New York Daily News, "It is amazing - and we see immediate improvement in some of the patients." He also believes Horn will be able to recover from the paralysis, adding, "Frequently someone like that will regain a tremendous amount of function, including the ability to walk, drive, and return to work again." As part of flamboyant illusion duo Siegfried And Roy, Horn had performed at Las Vegas's Mirage venue thousands of times since 1990.

[source]

*cries* You can't imagine the shock I went through when I read these first three words. MAULED. ROY. DIED. *cries more* How can they phrase it like that when they know that people worry and fear for his life. This is a horrible story, horrible. I don't even know how to read this. It just sounds so bizarre. I have no idea what the fuck they did, but... God.

This sounds bad, doesn't it? As if he was crippled for life, never going to be the same again. I realize they say people have recovered before, but now they say it's far worse than initially thought. And it's been almost two weeks now and still no significant change in his condition...

I wish for his swift and complete recovery. So much...

Comments

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

headlines like that are evil.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yes they are T_T.

[laurenia.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor girl, keep cool!

If you cross out all lines that are plainly meant to shock and have no value whatsoever, you get a report that Roy got through an operation that will probably help him to recover much sooner and that there's a good chance that he will be the same again.
He obviously is a figher if someone can make it through, it's him!

*hugs*

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

*hugs and sniffles* Thank you ;_;. I always have a hard time weeding through information like that when I'm too involved. I just read it and it worried me so much that I couldn't think anymore...

[jessibean.livejournal.com]

sweetie, try not to worry too much ;_; the Star is one of those papers that tend to BS. I think you should wait until you see a more reliable piece of news, okay? ;_; *hugs* I'll let you know if I see anything

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Okay... I guess you're right. It just upsets me when I read things like that... And there hasn't been any decent news for days! *rotates*

[andrewwyld.livejournal.com]

When you mentioned them in your conservation post a few days back, I wondered if you had heard about this ... I hope he pulls through, too.  For him to have survived this long is a very good sign.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Of course I've heard about this. >_> Darling, I've been spamming LJ with ever latest newsbit since it happened. I've probably annoyed the fuck out of everyone by one. But I can't help it. I love them so much. They touch something inside of me, and I know they love each other so much and they mustn't be seperated ;_;. Since it happened I've been scanning every newschannel every hour and now there hasn't been anything new since Monday or Tuesday since they've released Montecore and it's really getting me nervous. Meow...

I don't want him to just survive... I want him to be his old self again. But maybe that's too much asked...

[andrewwyld.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to say.  It's terribly sad.

That said, he has been able to do what he loved and express his love for the animals they work with, and I think that's a wonderful thing for anyone to have been able to do.

I hope he recovers.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

em, uh... you didn't think I was rude when I said "darling" did you? because i didn't mean for it to sound rude i just thought it kinda fit... sowwy... *ish silly*

[andrewwyld.livejournal.com]

No, please don't worry.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Okay! I hate to be thought rude! >_>

[emanuelle.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I'm sorry it was such a shock for you! *hugs*
And that operation sounds so freaky, I won't get the images out of my head for a long time.
And, yeah, "horrifically attacked". Tssk.

[kribban.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry honey. It did sound bad but it probably isn't. They just try to shock you. *hugs*

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

I hate articles like that ;_;.

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

i think that should be "skull fragment was kept in his abdomen".
just try to safekeep bone marrow in the stomach.. O_o

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yeah it does sound rather freaky... I can't make any sense of this and I haven't heard any similar report before that. This is just... freaky. And does the skull have marrow at all? *displays utter ignorance* I mean, it makes sense that larger bones such as the shin or so have marrow, but your skullcap? Couldn't they just take it out, put it in some liquid to keep it fresh and then put it back in later? Or just throw it away and put an artificial one in or something.

Maybe I should just ignore this stupid article...

[emanuelle.livejournal.com]

I remember a case where a little girl had her skull cap taken off and it was stored in a fridge. Children definitely have bone marrow in their skull, I'm not that sure about adults.
On the other hand, the kid probably didn't have the kind of money that Roy Horn has, I bet that he is taken care of in the best possible way. Even if that means... *shakes head*

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Read no_ron's answer. That was quite helpful. Now I only wonder if this was a good treatment or some weird-ass way of trying to save his life O.o;;;.

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

well, artificial is not as good as natural. and yes, the skull does have marrow. both skull and e.g. pelvis are important places where red marrow is found.
a bone is a living tissue, so it's best stored and kept alive within one's own body; can be put under the skin or into a natural cavity (like abdomen).

"The role of decompressive hemicraniectomy in stroke victims is gaining popularity among neuroscientists as it is found to be beneficial in malignant infarction of middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory which results in massive edema and brain swelling. Recent articles have showed that this procedure not only reduces mortality but also improves the functional outcome."

it's certainly not a common procedure, but if the news is true, it seems they chose to do it in this case..

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Okay, I realize that assuming the skullcap didn't have any kind of marrow was kinda naive ^_^;;;. I'm smarter now. Hm... I see, so are you saying this is a very new and modern method of treating stroke patients or is it a rather obscure and odd one?

If they store it in a natural cavity, how do they ensure supply? Do they connect it somehow?

I just hope they saved his hair... ó_ò

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

>>>Hm... I see, so are you saying this is a very new and modern method
>>>of treating stroke patients or is it a rather obscure and odd one?
i'm sure the procedure is known for a long time, i just don't think it's been a very common trend in managing stroke patients. but as the quote says, it's "gaining popularity".

>>>If they store it in a natural cavity, how do they ensure supply?
>>>Do they connect it somehow?
no, i'd say it just imbibes the interstitial fluid..

>>>I just hope they saved his hair...
well, they certainly had to scalp him, so that's going to leave a simple scar somewhere.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

I read more articles now and apparently the actual doc now has spoken out and said these reports were grossly exaggerated and what they did was remove a small portion of the skull for the reasons you indicated. They said they didn't use that eh... other big word you used ^.^;... *goes to find the article*

Là:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-10-16-roy-update_x.htm

Thank you so much for clearning this all up. I was really driving myself crazy x_x.

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

so basically the disinfo was the 1/2 of the skullcap, while actually it was just 1/8 of it.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Does that make any difference? I mean, significant difference?

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

ehm, i'm far from being a neurosurgeon, but i wouldn't say it's such a huge significant difference. in any case, with the partial craniectomy they took the most efficient approach to manage the intracranial hypertension and minimalize additional brain damage due to brain swelling.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yay, I only had to look up "intracranial"! *g* *memorizes that word* Yes, this sounds like a good approach. And apparently they did it pretty soon after the stroke, so there's hopes the damage wasn't severe. You think he can recover from the paralysis again?

After my grandfather had a stroke he went insane... ;_;

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

I'm a Las Vegas local myself and well, yeah, it's really scary here too. I just read your article and it scared the bejebes out of me! Because I hadn't heard anything about him dying locally!

But those stupid news papers just put what will make readers READ. If it had said, "Roy goes through surgey" then people would be less inclined to read it than if it said "Roy DIES!" you know? Sick bastards. I hate newspapers.

*hugs* Take care. It's Roy, he'll get through this.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

*clings* These articles are so cruel! T_T Roy mustn't die! I love him so much! Promise me you'll let me know if something drastically changes? I'm scanning news channels as much as I can, but interest seems to be waning... ;_;

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Well, I can tell you right now that interest is more focused on the 260+ people who are now out of work since the Mirage cancelled the show permanently than they are on Roy himself.

There are little things though. Last Saturday they held a vigil for him at 8pm outside of the hospital he's at, and the Palm's has their big marquee out front displaying "Get Well Roy!"

All the cabs still have "Siegfreid and Roy" banners on though, which is just . . . heart breaking, I guess. =/

I'm sure if anything siginificant happens you'll hear on the news but I'll let you know if I hear anything. I wish I'd had the chance to meet Roy -- I've seen Siegfreid a few times in the past, I used to go to the same gym he did (and he worked out in heeled boots, ha!)

Anyway. *hugs* Just keep sending him good wishes. He's strong. He'll recover.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know. I felt so horrible when I heard the cast had to find other jobs. But my main wish is for Roy to recover. Then there will be a new show and they can return. Hopefully... I mean, of course I want him to recover and be happy. Period. But I know that the show is his life and he'd want to continue. Heck, I just want him to be safe and home ;_;.

I'm glad they didn't just remove every proof of his life as if he had never existed. And I still don't understand why they cancelled the show for good. I mean, there's still a slim chance, no? And they've got a lifetime contract! Meow!

I believe in Roy's spiritual capacity...

He really worked out in heeled boots? >_> I wonder if Siegfried speaks better English privately. Whenever I hear him in public it's just shitty. His German isn't much better. I always thought Roy's English was generally better, but his German had deteriorated a lot as well. Except for that recording in the Secret Garden -.-;. "And the lion jumpted at me..."