Help Clive Sing Again

CLIVE BALDWIN, my husband of 49 years has been a  professional singer and entertainer since he was 17. This very talented man performed concerts and one man shows all over the world and has many, many fans and friends from everywhere.

On December 1, 2018 he suffered a massive stroke resulting from a blood clot that went  from the right side of his heart to the left side of his brain. He  was placed on oxygen and the doctors  had to use a special machine to clear up the mucus by suctioning him  constantly while in the ICU. After several months of being treated in various medical facilities including MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL; 
he was not able to swallow or speak, he was  bedridden, unable       to walk as his balance had been seriously affected. 

He was fed through a surgically placed feeding tube to keep him alive. We placed him in what we believed to be a reputable Rehabilitation Center. His recovery was slow but the doctors believed with proper continued care he might get his swallow mechanism back in about 6 months. The first week he was there, in his wheelchair he managed to roll out into the hallway and took something from one of the patient's trays. When I got there and rolled him back to his room, I noticed a bump in his cheek and asked him what was in there. Turned out to be a GRAPE, which, if he had swallowed  would have choked him to death. That was not the only problem in the Rehab and God help anyone who is there alone...without an advocate. Perilous!



A few weeks later, the Rehab Center doctor placed a Foley catheter in Clive's penis and apparently it was not done correctly. 
After a week of excruciating pain Clive pulled it out himself and the result was devastating. My daughter Diana and I had just arrived and were walking into his room when suddenly there was blood all over and the nurses ushered us out into the lobby.
An hour later after some emergency medical repair, the nurse let us in to see Clive. We assumed he would be cared for properly, but oh, how wrong I was.

Several days passed and and I was continually at the Center asking for a doctor to look at him  and/or give him an antibiotic, They did not. One morning FIVE days later,  the nursing staff called me and said he had developed a fever of 104 degrees and a very dangerously low blood pressure and was being taken by ambulance to JACKSON NORTH HOSPITAL.  I asked them to take him to MT. SINAI HOSPITAL near our home and where his doctors were.  They refused.

When they got him to the ER at the hospital it was determined by a doctor that he needed to be intubated, that means they placed a breathing tube into his throat and because he was in serious pain and somewhat combative at this time they put him on the Michael Jackson drug propophal to keep him totally sedated. Clive was close to 86 years old  and I found out later it was contraindicated in stroke patients of that age. He suffered a serious setback at that time and his body swelled up like a balloon.

We believed then and do now that it was due to the intubation and the propophol. The hospital put him in isolation and we had to wear a plastic gown, masks and gloves to enter his room. They kept him intubated for almost ten days and during that time his lips were extremely  bruised and turned black. The nurse said he might have herpes. That turned out not to be true,  and we never found out why his lips were black. We later suspected that it might have been dried blood from a difficult intubation.

On the Sunday they took the tube out and his breathing was fine with just a little oxygen. I stayed with him until 10 PM and he was smiling with relief and seemed comfortable. He could not speak but he held my hand and smiled at me. It was a precious moment for both of us.



The following morning the doctor who had intubated him called me at home at 8AM to tell me they were going to re-intubate him because, he said, his breathing was not good. I called my daughter Diana and a friend, Annette and we all went up to the hospital within an hour. They both remained at his bedside with instructions from me not to let anyone touch him. I used my credit card to hire a private ambulance for Clive and shortly thereafter, with the help of a friendly hospital advocate who agreed with me that removing him from that hospital was the right thing to do, we were on our way to MT. SINAI HOSPITAL and the safety we knew we would find there,  for a very disillusioned Clive Baldwin and me.

The ambulance attendants told me he did not need much oxygen, just a bit for safety as he was breathing well on his own. Knowing he was secure once again, I went home and slept for the first time in many nights. In the morning he was awake and using only 2% oxygen with no need to be re-intubated. I knew we had made the right decision.



On March 12, 2019 he was released from the hospital and he came home a totally different man from the active, motivated marvelous singer who had thrilled thousands of people over the past 50 years. Unable to walk, talk or make himself understood, he was not able to fully comprehend what happened to him . Even though he was home in his familiar surroundings, Clive was an unhappy and frustrated man who could not communicate with us in any way.  I vowed he would stay there and I would help him to recover in his own home. No matter what it would take.

With little help from Medicare we managed to outfit our spare bedroom with a hospital bed and whatever medical devices we needed to keep him alive, like a machine to suction mucus from his lungs, another machine to help him breathe and lots of medical supplies including a liquefied  form of food that he is fed using a PEG or tube inserted into his stomach.

As of today, prohibitive costs have made the journey a perilous one. Using our resources, mostly savings; I was able to pay the household expenses, the bill for nurses, physical therapy and Speech therapy, special food, medical supplies and doctor bills adding up to approximately $8,000 a month over the next 22 months!

After leaving the hospital Clive was very underweight. He was being given a complete nutritional semi-liquid that we fed him two times a day. It cost $200 for 20 feedings, which was  lasted only 10 days. With the doctor's permission I decided to investigate preparing our own food from meat, chicken, many fresh vegetables and lots of beans, olive oil and coconut oil to help Clive with his nutrition and gaining much need muscle mass and weight. It worked and he began  to regain his strength. Everything went in  through the feeding tube! We added liquid vitamins and minerals and even put his medicine in the tube.

After about 6 months and close to $50,000 was gone,  I got a little worried, but still felt I could go it alone. Clive and I have always taken care of ourselves, and at times many others. I sold the property we had and for another six months we were okay. Then I decimated our bank accounts, closed out our investment accounts and sold antiques Clive had brought from England.  That  input of cash did not go very far. I  then went to my family with some financial requests. I had to pay off some balances on Amazon where I bought so much of what I needed for Clive and since I was in no position to go out shopping, it was very convenient.  My family is  wonderful and agreed to help. 

Currently I am in debt for about $75,000. and it grows by almost $8,000 monthly for the nurses and all the other expenses I have already outlined.   Hence why this fund has now been created for his mounting medical expenses  which will to give Clive the care that he so desperately needs....and deserves to bring him  back to health.

We had been cooking and putting the food in his tube and one of our nurses said she felt he was ready to try eating by mouth. On August, 2019 about 8 months since the stroke, Clive ate his first liquefied meal, by mouth.  His doctor and Speech Pathologist agreed and so very slowly we placed a spoon in his hand and he ate one spoonful of his food,very carefully. He did not choke but we all watched breathlessly as he slowly swallowed with great difficulty the little bit of pureed food. One more spoonful and the rest by PEG. Clive was so happy.

The doctor had said maybe in 6 months he would swallow...it was 8 months but it happened. Although the feeding tube is still in and in use,  he is able to eat all thee meals of pureed food every day by mouth. The therapists told us his tongue and lips, cheeks and throat were coming alive and being restored by the constant electro-therapy he was receiving.

Progress, slow, but continuing. 

He was  recently  diagnosed with an irreversible prostate problem, which they found led to a bladder problem. I thought " here we go again".  After yet another hospital stay and surgery to perform surgically a repair. He now has a Foley catheter that goes right into his bladder. That seem to have helped his discomfort  for the most part.

My family has been helpful and appreciated the fact that I want to keep him at home rather than put him in a nursing home. I have. Since his return home we have continually had to employ nurses to care for him since he has very special needs that require specialized care. This stroke kept him from swallowing and for the first year we were afraid he would  choke, causing aspiration in his lungs, leading to pneumonia. It required special care in his feeding and positioning on the bed.  And very careful watching.

Nurses are expensive...and worth every penny because of their loving care and attention. We have been lucky in having the very best and Clive is beginning to eat some soft foods by mouth, drink juice and water that has been thickened to the thickness of honey. He even has a cup of coffee in the morning thickened with a product designed just for that purpose. 

 The expense has overwhelmed me even with assistance from my family. Medicare will no longer pay for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and e my bills are approximately $8,000 a month! I have been paying them all out of pocket for 8 months, since his Medicare ran out.

I have also hired a speech therapist who is certified in singing restorative therapy to work with him three times a week. He had become very depressed and frustrated and she gives him confidence...and hope. He still cannot speak, but the part of the brain that controls singing has been restored and he is able to sing somewhat with the guidance of his therapist. 

I sold everything and when I laughingly mentioned to my daughter that those investments were for our old age, she reminded me "this IS your old age, mom" and I said "yeah, but it was enough...until this".......Yes, until this.

We wiped out our savings...saving Clive and well worth it. 

Clive had an amazing career and sang for thousands of wonderful fans. We hear from friends and fans who are asking constantly how we are. I simply tell them that we are doing okay as I didn't want to burden anyone with our problems.

Now is the time that I must, in the interest of survival make it known just how things are. My closest family and very few friends send prayers of recovery for Clive on a daily basis. For which we are thankful as Clive has always been a faithful Christian who loves God. 

Once the fundraising begins, we would so appreciate hearing from friends, fans and donors with photos of themselves with Clive at shows or merely visiting with us. From all those who so enjoyed knowing and sharing life and times with this wonderful, talented man who shared so much with so many, And I thank you all for your concern and care.