Schroeder Has Second Stroke, Isn’t Speaking

William Schroeder was awake but not talking today as a hospital spokeswoman confirmed that a second stroke, caused by bleeding in the brain, had weakened the artificial heart patient’s right side.

Schroeder’s speech was impaired by a stroke in mid-December. Doctors today did not know yet whether Monday’s stroke further limited his ability to speak, said Donna Hazle, a spokeswoman at Humana Hospital Audubon.

“The bleeding occurred from the left base of the brain to the left frontal lobe,” she said. Nerve centers that control speech and movement for the right side of the body are located in the area.

“Physicians this morning indicated that Bill Schroeder has a severe neurological problem (the cerebral hemorrhage),” Hazle said.

Schroeder, who remains in critical but stable condition, was “awake and responsive to his wife, nurses and doctors,” Hazle said. But “he is not speaking.”

Right Side Weaker

It might be some time before doctors perform tests to determine whether Schroeder suffered lasting brain damage, she said.

Schroeder, the longest-living recipient of a Jarvik-7 pump, showed movement on his right side but “it’s weaker than the other side,” said spokesman Bob Irvine of Humana Inc.

The Dec. 13 stroke, which interrupted the Jasper, Ind., man’s recovery from the implant 18 days earlier, was caused by minuscule blood clots that entered his brain through the circulatory system. Monday’s stroke was caused by bleeding in the brain, but doctors have not determined its source.