DiMaggio stable
Hall of Famer still on respirator after doctors drain lungs
Posted: Friday December 11, 1998 12:53 AM
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DiMaggio has battled back from a 102 degree fever but is still on a respirator AP |
HOLLYWOOD, Florida (AP) -- Doctors treated a persistent infection in Joe
DiMaggio's lungs Thursday, hoping to relieve congestion that grew worse
overnight and clouded his overall health picture once again.
Still, despite a low-grade fever and the increased congestion, DiMaggio
was in stable condition after the procedure, and his blood pressure, heart
and kidneys were all performing well, his doctor said.
"It's not necessarily a turn for the worse, but it clearly would be
better if he didn't have this," said Dr. Earl Barron, who has treated
DiMaggio for five years.
Doctors drained infected material from his lungs -- a procedure that
helped DiMaggio rally on Monday, after he was described as near death.
"His lungs continue to be congested and there's probably still some
residual infection," Barron said. "We were not able to suction nearly as
much material today, which is a good sign. It means he's not producing as
much."
DiMaggio, who battled back from a 102-degree fever and low white
blood-cell count during the weekend, remains on a respirator at Memorial
Regional Hospital, a wing of which is named for the 84-year-old Hall of
Famer.
Barron said DiMaggio's prognosis is guarded and day-to-day.
"This is not a peak or a valley, it's really a stable situation," the
doctor said. "We would like to see things improving, obviously. It hasn't
happened, but we're just hoping that it will.
"I'm not going to tell you he's not going to survive," the doctor said.
"I'm not going to say any of those things because he can still turn around
and survive beautifully."
The hope is to get him to breathe on his own, but with the increased
congestion DiMaggio will not be taken off the respirator anytime soon,
Barron said.
Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's attorney and longtime friend, said he had
asked Barron to rate the former New York Yankees
center fielder on a scale of 0-to-10, with zero being the worst and 10 the
best.
"On Monday, the doctor said he was 0.5," Engelberg said. "Then on
Tuesday, he rallied and it was 2. Today, he told me it was 1. That scared
me.
"It's a roller-coaster ride. He's in deep trouble. He's very sick."
DiMaggio, who entered the hospital October 12, had a cancerous tumor
removed from his right lung two days later. He is fighting recurring
pneumonia in his left lung. An earlier intestinal infection has cleared up,
Barron said.
DiMaggio is not strong enough to have chemotherapy for the cancer. "It's
the pneumonia, not the cancer, that is the problem," Engelberg said.
When his fever shot up during the weekend, doctors summoned relatives and
friends. His condition was so grim that doctors even discussed signing a
"do not resuscitate" form, but Engelberg said he would not consider doing
that.
Besides treatment with three antibiotics, fluid also was drained from
DiMaggio's lungs several times. His blood pressure dropped so rapidly on
November 16 that a Catholic priest was summoned to administer last rites.
Barron said it's impossible to predict how long DiMaggio will remain in
the hospital, where he has been kept sedated so he can rest and hopefully
heal.
"He's heavily sedated," Engelberg said. "They say he can hear, but
without sedation he'd be up in five minutes. He wants out of there."
"He had 83-and-11/12ths very good years," Engelberg said. "He's a hero to
250 million Americans. Who doesn't love Joe DiMaggio?"
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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