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The Man, the Myth, the Legend. Azzie. Azz-man. Snazzy Azzie…
If you’re reading this, chances are you know him. If your life personally hasn’t been influenced for the better because of him, then most likely someone important to you is a better human because of Azzie. Maybe he’s been your teacher, your mentor, your Coach, or your co-worker. Azzie’s been a teammate, a friend, a confidant to everyone he meets. Perhaps Azzie was just your comedic relief at the end of some, or all, of your bad days. Maybe he has saved your whole life, just by inspiring his infinite wisdom into your being. The truth is – each of us can say that a small part of who we are (or maybe MORE than a small part) is because of WHO Azzie is. For me, Azzie has been all of that, PLUS the most amazing Dad that God could give.
Up until last week Azzie was still the most healthy person any of us may know; still exercising more days a week than not. Running every other day, eating nothing but clean healthy foods for the last 15 years. For the last two weeks, Azzie believed he had cold/flu symptoms. On Tuesday, Dad messaged me telling me that his eye was extremely red and that he had made an appointment with his optometrist for Wednesday. On Wednesday, Azzie could not drive to his eye appointment. I arranged for him to have a ride, and upon arriving to the optometrist, he was told that they would not even be able to see him there. Azzie was too sick. He needed to be in the emergency room. I found my Dad in the emergency room at UVM Medical Center, having not seen him for two weeks (despite being in phone contact and bringing groceries and health supplies to them – Marilyn and Dad only wanted us to drop things off at the door, in order to avoid exposure to whatever illness they had). Azzie’s left eye was swollen shut and the size of a tennis ball. An infection had taken over his eye, and his body was so weak that he could barely talk and had no strength to walk on his own. After a CT scan and blood work, it was determined that he had orbital cellulitis in his left eye, an infection that had spread deep behind his eye socket. A test for the flu came back negative. In addition to the eye infection, Dad’s sodium levels were so extremely low from flushing his body with water only for days; doctors said that they would have admitted him due to the dangerously low sodium even without the eye infection.
After the ER, dad was taken up to Ophthalmology to be examined by the eye specialists. Probably every eye specialist in the state of Vermont came in and debated on how to treat dad’s eye and the infection. He had almost no vision in the left eye when doctors forced the eye to be open. He could see light shining, but fingers held up inches from his eye were not visible to him. He had an ultrasound on the eye and they tried to measure the pressure in his eye. The pressure was “immeasurably high,” meaning the tools used to measure the pressure could not determine how high the pressure was. An ophthalmologist performed emergency surgery to cut his eyelid at the outer corner to relieve the pressure. Shortly after, we were told that Dad would need surgery to drain his sinuses, in order to try to do everything to save his eye. Unsure if vision would return at all, the Ear, Nose and Throat specialists decided that waiting even until Thursday to perform the surgery would be too risky. So at 7pm on Wednesday evening, Dad had a second emergency surgery within hours of that first one, to drain his sinuses.
The surgeon came out to talk with my siblings and me, telling us that she drained Dad’s sinuses to help clear the infection. The outlook was still unclear on his eye. Furthermore, before the surgery began, the anesthesiologist discovered an atrial flutter, a heartbeat that is abnormal. Since this was previously undetected on any EKGS before, the medical teams wanted to keep an eye on that part of his health as well.
Thursday, the doctors said that his sinus surgery was successful in combating the infection, but that he would still need to be monitored until labs returned the results of what the exact infection is. Dad’s eye was still very swollen and the ophthalmologists were still on the fence about whether his vision would return or not.
Because of his heart condition, he was moved to the cardiac unit for more round-the-clock monitoring of his heart rate. The rate would go up to an extremely high rate of 170+ any time dad would move.
Friday morning, we received the news from eye doctors that the best option for Azzie was to remove his eye. What had started as a sinus infection that traveled to his eye was now going to cost him his left eye. Because the infection was so bad, and the pressure from the swelling was so high, blood flow to his eye was essentially non-existent and the cornea melted away. Trying to save the cornea was deemed to be not worth the race-against-the-clock to save the rest of his eye. For the optic tissues to be saved, the eye needed to be removed. Another concern was that dad’s right eye would develop sympathetic ophthalmia, which would cause the immune system to attack that eye as well.
At about 4.45pm on Friday evening, Azzie went into his 3rd emergency surgery since Wednesday, to have his left eye removed. While in surgery for the eye, the Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon did another cleaning of his sinuses again and sent more samples from that and from the eye to the labs to be tested to determine if there were other infections other than the original (streptococcus) bacteria that was found from the first cultures.
This is such a long story, and this is just the SHORT version of all that has happened since last Wednesday the 21st of February.
As I write, I’m here in the hospital with my dad. He’s still on heavy duty antibiotics to combat the infections that they know of and hopefully any others that may be in his body. Azzie is still being monitored for his heart rate and blood pressure. He is still weak. But I’m happy to report that his spirits are high. And isn’t that just SO AZZIE of him?! I can’t tell you all that Azzie, myself, and our entire (huge!!) family has been through in the past 6 days. I can’t tell you the emotions that anyone has felt, least of all what Azzie has gone through. I wish that I could convey the phone calls we’ve been making to all corners of the globe, the miles and hours of driving that my siblings have driven, the fear we’ve felt in these past few days - not knowing if the most important person in all our lives is going to make it out alive after being literally healthier than ALL OF US- there are no words for that. Maybe someday we will find those words. But if there is one thing I CAN say it’s this- Azzie is the most faithful man I know. His faith in God has NEVER waivered.
Most of us know by now that the past few years have been a struggle for Azzie. He’s had his livelihood, his career, his reputation, and his joy of teaching/coaching unjustly taken from him. He spent what should have been his last few years of career and the first few years of his retirement fighting to restore his dignity. And this whole time, he’s never lost his sense of self.
So let’s be honest. Azzie has lost so much. He deserves, DESERVES to get some of his life back.
He needs our help. If he’s impacted you, or someone you care about, PLEASE contribute towards helping Azzie. Recovery will be costly, and he has a long road ahead of him. Anything we can gather together to help is appreciated!
I will do my best to continue to post updates on my dad’s recovery process. He has had visitors at the hospital, so if you would like to see him, get in touch with me or my sister Victoria to coordinate a time. Azzie cherishes his friendships and has been so encouraged by the outpouring of love that he has received!
If you’re reading this, chances are you know him. If your life personally hasn’t been influenced for the better because of him, then most likely someone important to you is a better human because of Azzie. Maybe he’s been your teacher, your mentor, your Coach, or your co-worker. Azzie’s been a teammate, a friend, a confidant to everyone he meets. Perhaps Azzie was just your comedic relief at the end of some, or all, of your bad days. Maybe he has saved your whole life, just by inspiring his infinite wisdom into your being. The truth is – each of us can say that a small part of who we are (or maybe MORE than a small part) is because of WHO Azzie is. For me, Azzie has been all of that, PLUS the most amazing Dad that God could give.
Up until last week Azzie was still the most healthy person any of us may know; still exercising more days a week than not. Running every other day, eating nothing but clean healthy foods for the last 15 years. For the last two weeks, Azzie believed he had cold/flu symptoms. On Tuesday, Dad messaged me telling me that his eye was extremely red and that he had made an appointment with his optometrist for Wednesday. On Wednesday, Azzie could not drive to his eye appointment. I arranged for him to have a ride, and upon arriving to the optometrist, he was told that they would not even be able to see him there. Azzie was too sick. He needed to be in the emergency room. I found my Dad in the emergency room at UVM Medical Center, having not seen him for two weeks (despite being in phone contact and bringing groceries and health supplies to them – Marilyn and Dad only wanted us to drop things off at the door, in order to avoid exposure to whatever illness they had). Azzie’s left eye was swollen shut and the size of a tennis ball. An infection had taken over his eye, and his body was so weak that he could barely talk and had no strength to walk on his own. After a CT scan and blood work, it was determined that he had orbital cellulitis in his left eye, an infection that had spread deep behind his eye socket. A test for the flu came back negative. In addition to the eye infection, Dad’s sodium levels were so extremely low from flushing his body with water only for days; doctors said that they would have admitted him due to the dangerously low sodium even without the eye infection.
After the ER, dad was taken up to Ophthalmology to be examined by the eye specialists. Probably every eye specialist in the state of Vermont came in and debated on how to treat dad’s eye and the infection. He had almost no vision in the left eye when doctors forced the eye to be open. He could see light shining, but fingers held up inches from his eye were not visible to him. He had an ultrasound on the eye and they tried to measure the pressure in his eye. The pressure was “immeasurably high,” meaning the tools used to measure the pressure could not determine how high the pressure was. An ophthalmologist performed emergency surgery to cut his eyelid at the outer corner to relieve the pressure. Shortly after, we were told that Dad would need surgery to drain his sinuses, in order to try to do everything to save his eye. Unsure if vision would return at all, the Ear, Nose and Throat specialists decided that waiting even until Thursday to perform the surgery would be too risky. So at 7pm on Wednesday evening, Dad had a second emergency surgery within hours of that first one, to drain his sinuses.
The surgeon came out to talk with my siblings and me, telling us that she drained Dad’s sinuses to help clear the infection. The outlook was still unclear on his eye. Furthermore, before the surgery began, the anesthesiologist discovered an atrial flutter, a heartbeat that is abnormal. Since this was previously undetected on any EKGS before, the medical teams wanted to keep an eye on that part of his health as well.
Thursday, the doctors said that his sinus surgery was successful in combating the infection, but that he would still need to be monitored until labs returned the results of what the exact infection is. Dad’s eye was still very swollen and the ophthalmologists were still on the fence about whether his vision would return or not.
Because of his heart condition, he was moved to the cardiac unit for more round-the-clock monitoring of his heart rate. The rate would go up to an extremely high rate of 170+ any time dad would move.
Friday morning, we received the news from eye doctors that the best option for Azzie was to remove his eye. What had started as a sinus infection that traveled to his eye was now going to cost him his left eye. Because the infection was so bad, and the pressure from the swelling was so high, blood flow to his eye was essentially non-existent and the cornea melted away. Trying to save the cornea was deemed to be not worth the race-against-the-clock to save the rest of his eye. For the optic tissues to be saved, the eye needed to be removed. Another concern was that dad’s right eye would develop sympathetic ophthalmia, which would cause the immune system to attack that eye as well.
At about 4.45pm on Friday evening, Azzie went into his 3rd emergency surgery since Wednesday, to have his left eye removed. While in surgery for the eye, the Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon did another cleaning of his sinuses again and sent more samples from that and from the eye to the labs to be tested to determine if there were other infections other than the original (streptococcus) bacteria that was found from the first cultures.
This is such a long story, and this is just the SHORT version of all that has happened since last Wednesday the 21st of February.
As I write, I’m here in the hospital with my dad. He’s still on heavy duty antibiotics to combat the infections that they know of and hopefully any others that may be in his body. Azzie is still being monitored for his heart rate and blood pressure. He is still weak. But I’m happy to report that his spirits are high. And isn’t that just SO AZZIE of him?! I can’t tell you all that Azzie, myself, and our entire (huge!!) family has been through in the past 6 days. I can’t tell you the emotions that anyone has felt, least of all what Azzie has gone through. I wish that I could convey the phone calls we’ve been making to all corners of the globe, the miles and hours of driving that my siblings have driven, the fear we’ve felt in these past few days - not knowing if the most important person in all our lives is going to make it out alive after being literally healthier than ALL OF US- there are no words for that. Maybe someday we will find those words. But if there is one thing I CAN say it’s this- Azzie is the most faithful man I know. His faith in God has NEVER waivered.
Most of us know by now that the past few years have been a struggle for Azzie. He’s had his livelihood, his career, his reputation, and his joy of teaching/coaching unjustly taken from him. He spent what should have been his last few years of career and the first few years of his retirement fighting to restore his dignity. And this whole time, he’s never lost his sense of self.
So let’s be honest. Azzie has lost so much. He deserves, DESERVES to get some of his life back.
He needs our help. If he’s impacted you, or someone you care about, PLEASE contribute towards helping Azzie. Recovery will be costly, and he has a long road ahead of him. Anything we can gather together to help is appreciated!
I will do my best to continue to post updates on my dad’s recovery process. He has had visitors at the hospital, so if you would like to see him, get in touch with me or my sister Victoria to coordinate a time. Azzie cherishes his friendships and has been so encouraged by the outpouring of love that he has received!
Organizer
Katrina Azagoh
Organizer
Burlington, VT