Schroeder May Be Able to Leave Hospital in February, Doctor Says
Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder apparently suffered some permanent speech damage from a series of strokes but should be able to leave the hospital next month, his surgeon said Tuesday.
“We’re shooting for February,” Dr. William C. DeVries said in an interview at Humana Hospital Audubon. He said that Schroeder’s communication skills are still partly impaired five weeks after the strokes.
“We don’t know how much of that (speech) he’s going to recover,” DeVries said. “We’re looking at a long-term recovery. I would suspect that there will be permanent damage.”
But he said that the 52-year-old Jasper, Ind., man is in better physical shape than before the Nov. 25 implant.
Humana Inc., which is financing the artificial heart experiment, has purchased a building near the hospital for Schroeder and family members to live in after his release. Schroeder intends to return to Jasper eventually, DeVries said.
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