On Saturday, January 25th, Louis Bowling (who his grandkids affectionately call Papa Lou) had a massive stroke while eating dinner at a restaurant.  He was taken to Baylor Waxahachie but had to be care flighted to Baylor Dallas immediately due to serious nature of the stroke.  He spent 3 weeks in the neuro ICU fighting for his life while experiencing additional strokes and complications.  On February 11th, he was stable enough for surgeons to complete a tracheotomy so that he would hopefully be able to move to neuro rehab. 

 

On Friday, February 14th (Valentine’s day), he was able to move to his neuro rehab facility to work on breathing on his own and regaining the ability to swallow.  Prognosis by his current team of doctors is that Louis will eventually speak and feed himself again but will more than likely be dependent on lifelong care with the inability to possibly never use the left side of his body.  This is not the news the family was hoping for, considering Louis is only 66 years old and has 7 grandchildren to keep up with.  He is now breathing on his own and able to follow people with his eyes.  He squeezes your hand on command and does smirk when the family tells a joke or describes something funny.

 

This fundraiser was created to hopefully help the family with expenses that come up with his care and rehab along with every day expenses for the family to pay bills on one income when the family relied on two. His wife spent years teaching young students in the classroom and had recently decided to go part time to work towards the ultimate goal of retirement.  Louis has worked at his job for over 20 years and was also looking forward to retirement one day to spend more time with his wife and grandkids.

The lives of this family have been forever changed and their world as they knew it has turned upside down.  Any help you're able to provide to help get them through this difficult time is so appreciated.   If you aren't in a position to give monetarily, the Bowling Family welcomes your thoughts and prayers.  We will continue to update on Papa Lou's condition as more information comes in.