Tag Archives: Elliot Shorter

Elliot Shorter Developments

Posted on by

The latest information I have seen is this forwarded e-mail from Chris Morissette (Eloi) on July 10:

This update is one that I need listened to and forwarded rapidly. I am not happy to have to say that people should make time to see Elliot. We met with his doctors today and they told him we have hit the roof in the getting better department. He will almost certainly never leave a hospital bed again. After such a huge turn around, he is aware and talking clearly and understands all this, to hear that has taken some wind from our sails. His response when he heard this prognosis was “he’s dead Jim.” He skipped Dialysis the other day. I told him that if he starts giving up that he needs to give me notice and allow people time to see him while he can still be him. He didn’t really take the bait and get feisty, he said yes, he would like to see people. The doctors told him he could stop all treatment and make him comfortable, this killed me. I am worried that having seen him during this exchange that he won’t fight this long. He is at the Providence [RI] VA [Veterans Administration hospital], 6a. I bring all cards and e-mailed well wishes to him, don’t hesitate to write please. Thank you all for everything.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

Elliot Shorter Medical Update

Posted on by

Following up, I’ve learned that Elliot Shorter is doing much worse than in the last report.

Don D’Ammassa writes: “Okay, here’s as much as I can find out. The hospital won’t tell non-family members anything and there are apparently no family members able or willing to get involved.

“El is in the ICU at the Veterans Hospital. He has not been conscious for almost two weeks now and is on a ventilator. From what the doctors and nurses won’t say, it seems unlikely that he will regain consciousness.”

Elliot Shorter May Soon Leave ICU

Posted on by

Joel Silverberg wrote on May 7 that a hospital staffer told him Elliot Shorter may soon be sent to a skilled nursing and rehab center. However, Silverberg said when he visited that Elliot “seemed a bit disoriented,” and he told Silverberg that he felt very tired.

Update 5/8/2008: The place to send get-well cards to Elliot Shorter (if you’re doing so immediately) is:

Elliot Shorter
Rhode Island Hospital
Jane Brown, North Wing 4
Room 420
535 Eddy Street,
Providence, RI 02903

Thanks to Mike Walsh for relaying info Devra Langsam received through an SCA list.

Elliot Shorter, Follow-Up

Posted on by

Joel Silverberg reported online after visiting Elliot Shorter on May 4: “He looked SO much better than when we saw him last! He was awake, alert, and communicative. He recognized us, and we chatted for about 5 or 10 minutes. He is still very tired.” Shorter remains in the intensive care unit of Rhode Island Hospital.

Elliot Shorter Medical Update

Posted on by

Elliot Shorter had surgery on May 1 to amputate one of his feet, reports Linda Bushyager, based on a post in last Saturday’s Virtual Fandom chatroom. Shorter is suffering total kidney failure. He was in the ICU at Rhode Island Hospital, Providence RI at the time of the report.

Shorter’s many claims to faanish fame include being elected the 1970 TAFF delegate, actually writing (some of) a TAFF report and, in his younger days, chronically being mistaken for pro football player Roosevelt Grier. (And that just barely scratches the surface.)