OK, I will continue to post here when I do see an update.

Jasmine shared the family's perception that only 5 of the 20 people assigned to Denise's care are actively helping her. I think the difficulties include staffing issues at the center, as well as the fact that Denise is not always sufficiently lucid to understand her own best interests much of the time--though it would seem that she is starting to get better. They mentioned difficulties getting Denise to accept food, water, and medication. This is a familiar problem for people providing care to patients recovering from this kind of event, unfortunately.

Let's hope the good news outweighs the bad in the next update.

G.

Jasmine Nickerson posted several updates about Denise's care on the Facebook group today. Some of what she wrote is upsetting. The family is having difficulties getting proper care for Denise in the facility where she is currently staying. The latest update posted just a few minutes ago (around 10:30 p.m. tonight) indicated that there was some progress with issues that the family has been experiencing with the staff and the neglect of the patient's needs and care.

The good news is that Denise is having speech therapy now and seems as if she is having more lucid moments. Jasmine mentioned a feeding tube which I think she is on in part so that she does not get dehydrated.

Best wishes,
Gothick

Fans, I was alerted by a "blog" entry I perused this morning that (to me iconic) Sixties actress Caroline Blakiston (who I have enjoyed in everything from THE AVENGERS to SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY to the Alec McCowen series MR PALFREY OF WESTMINSTER) acted in the role of Aunt Agatha in the new POLDARK series which is about to unveil its fourth season.  Aunt Agatha was written out last year, but you can see clips of her reading her Tarot cards (it looks as if the same deck was used as seen in 1795 in the hands of the Countess du Pres) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re1Qjvd7dKU

Historically, someone like Aunt Agatha would have read ordinary playing cards, by far the commonest tool for divination in early modern Europe. It wasn't until the 1960s that Tarot cards began to be popular, partly because Tarot decks were not at all widely available before that time. The books of Eden Gray popularized Tarot in the US during the Sixties, and soon after Gray began publishing, others followed in her train.

G.

Mysterioso darling,

I do not think Progeny of the Adder was ever filmed. It seems pretty obvious that Jeff Rice, the original author of the story on which Night Stalker was based, must have read the 1965 book. What is quite original in Rice's story is the character of Kolchak--there is nobody at all like him in the Whitten book. In fact, according to the author of the article I read, characterization was not at all Whitten's strong suit.

I checked the internet and it turns out that Jeff Rice launched his own lawsuit against ABC before the movie was finished. It appears to have been settled out of court. The motive for the suit was the fact that the rights to the original story by Rice were sold without his permission. The world is a devious, harsh place.

G.

Fans of the original 1972 NIGHT STALKER film might find this of interest:

http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/07/progeny-of-adder-by-leslie-whitten-1965.html

Novelist Leslie Whitten tried to sue (ABC or Dan Curtis, I believe) but according to a brief note in an article about this I just read, had to drop the suit.

G.

Jasmine Nickerson reported yesterday:
[Denise] has finally been moved out of the ICU into a new part of the hospital for "high-risk," but not "intensive-risk" patients.
She's stable but still fidgety with the new contraptions in and on her, and unfortunately they pose a greater risk if she rips them out. Josh is very worried and had had a rough day emotionally with processing everything.  (end)

I can post updates here when I think to check for them. I haven't seen anything today.

There was something that I think had been posted Friday evening about Denise having surgery. The procedure is supposed to help with her recovery. Keep those prayers going.

G.

I really hope somebody out there is fundraising for the medical bills separately from the link posted in the article I looked at yesterday. The fundraiser was closed and the amount raised was only around $2500 or less. Which is a drop in the bucket for typical hospital bills in the US.

Hope Denise's son and his spouse are getting good support and advice. It sounds like a very challenging, difficult situation. And heartbreaking, of course.

Gothick

Last night's update was pretty good. It seems likely now that she will make a good recovery.

Gothick