The Ken Wilber blog has posted an update on Ken and his recent health crisis:
Dear Friends,Glad to hear he will be okay.
Early Wednesday morning Ken was admitted to a local hospital for repeated seizures and an abnormal cardiac pattern. Ken is currently in stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit.
Ken does not have a history of seizures, and there was zero warning that something was about to go wrong. In fact, Ken had a fantastic day Tuesday, writing all morning and then meeting with several folks at the loft.
Doctors believe that they understand why these seizures occurred, and the good news is that it's nothing intrinsically wrong with Ken's physical well-being. In other words, we have strong reason to believe we can avoid these in the future.
Ken has been sedated since admission to the hospital in order to help prevent additional seizures, and doctors are planning on slowly backing off the sedative in the next day or so.
This is clearly an extremely serious situation, but it does not appear life-threatening, and according to the lead doctor at the hospital, she has no reason to believe that any of these conditions are irreversible.
If you would like to express support for Ken, please pray, do tonglen, or simply hold him in heart and mind with loving-kindness. Ken has always said that these practices work wonders, for both giver and receiver, and all of your love and care will be deeply appreciated by him.
Please do not send flowers; if even a dozen kind souls send flowers, the doctors will have no space to work. And naturally, please do not try and visit Ken in the hospital. Ken is in Intensive Care, and only family or extremely close ties are allowed in, nor is the hospital allowed to disclose that Ken is a patient there.
For the time being, I will be posting short updates on Ken's condition daily. As might be expected, we are looking at days and weeks in terms of recovery, but even just 48 hours after all of this started, recovery does indeed appear to be the path we've already begun.
Please, friends, walk with Ken on this path. Lift him with your heart, touch him with your mind, bless him with your soul, liberate him with your spirit. He will feel you, and you will feel him, and this miracle of we shall embrace us all, radiantly erupting as the bliss-agony of One Heart pulsing in so many bodies. Ken is nearer to you than your own skin; feel him with reckless abandon. Nourish this precious body of our beloved friend with all the love available to you. Let that love open you to infinity....
Prajnaparamita,
Colin
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Thanks for posting Colin's update, Bill. Abnormal heart rhythms and seizures sounds pretty darned serious, but if Ken's doctors think he'll be OK, I feel relieved and a lot more hopeful than I did all day yesterday. It sounds to this utter medical novice like a severe biochemical imbalance of some kind.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts and best wishes for a complete recovery are directed at Ken at this time.
--Steve
Steve,
ReplyDeleteThe seizures and heart issues probably have the same source -- a mineral imbalance. I think that's why the docs aren't too concerned and Colin says it can be managed. If potassium, sodium, magnesium, or calcium get out of balance -- of if the balance of these minerals gets thrown off -- the result can often be malfunction of the muscular system, which explains the seizures (more likely intense muscle spasms) and the heart arrhythmia. The downside is that it can also impact brain function. I could be wrong, but that's what it sounds like to me. Here's a quote from a natural health site.
The 4 primary minerals, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium need to be balanced appropriately for the brain and central nervous system, made of the sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomous nervous systems, to operate properly. The autonomous central nervous system in particular is responsible for the regulation of most of our major organs and an imbalance here usually results, in the long run, in a malfunction of one organ or another, sometimes even the brain can be affected.
Most likely, they'll just have to monitor mineral levels on a regular basis to make sure it doesn't get out of balance again.
Peace,
Bill
Whew... Thanks for posting this. The information I had last night was maddingly vague!
ReplyDeleteHolding Healthy Kenny thoughts,
Scott
I see that this link has been removed from Ken's blog.
ReplyDeleteplaying devil's advocate for a moment, I hear this constant refrain in the blogs about not getting enough info about ken's health. well as a man living with HIV, let me state emphatically that the public does NOT own the stories about ken's health. when he chooses to disclose his situation is NOT our call. If the KW blog posted personal info w/o his approval and prior permission, then it's best that it not be out there forever. And there's nothing more personal than a man facing a life-or-death struggle. Let's be patient.
ReplyDelete- Joe
Joe,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. I don't think any of us feel KW owes us info on his health. We are simply concerned.
The original post at KW's blog was moved to the I-I news section (although the date is funky). Colin is his personal assistant, so we can assume that he would do nothing without KW's approval.
Anyway, I agree with you -- AND I think there is just some anxiety among those who know him or follow his work.
Peace,
Bill