Hi All,
No more news. I checked for Tony this morning. Here’s the photograph of Tony’s stuff, locked up, in front of Cosa Pizza on Roncesvalles. I took the photo from above.
Philip
The word from the street
Hi All,
No more news. I checked for Tony this morning. Here’s the photograph of Tony’s stuff, locked up, in front of Cosa Pizza on Roncesvalles. I took the photo from above.
Philip
Hi Everyone,
Tony is nowhere to be found. The police officer patrolling the construction area near Tony’s usual spot hasn’t seen him, and he’s not in the hospital (per my earlier post). Is there anyone who has seen him recently?
Philip
Hi All,
As of this morning, Tony hadn’t checked himself back into the hospital. I will check in front of Mabel’s later this morning. I don’t know what else to do.
Philip
Hi Everyone,
It’s 10am and Tony’s nowhere to be found — at least not on Roncesvallles. I have no idea where he slept and he hasn”t called me. [Sometimes he doesn’t call simply because he doesn’t have the change.] I’m not worried about him — yet. The weather’s fine so I expect I’ll see him later.
Philip
Hi All,
Indeed, Tony is back on the street: “I just kinda freaked out and got out of that hospital. I’ll go back ’cause I have to, you know, my heart problems. But I just had to get out of there. The doc said I’ll have to start in Emerge[ncy] again but I just had to get out. I know I’m nuts but that’s what happens when you live on the street.”
Philip
[Photo taken at 930am this morning]
Hi All,
As Rose, Tony’s sister, said in her comment under the previous post, Tony has left the hospital. While I haven’t yet seen him, he’s taken up his regular place in front of Mabel’s Bakery — his stuff is out but he isn’t there. I hope this means he feels better, although he’s left his doctor frustrated for sure with his unannounced disappearance. I’ll say more when I see him, which should be soon.
Philip
Hi All,
Indeed, Tony has been outside the hospital for a few hours at time, with the permission of his doctor. Since his feet and legs are swollen, his shoes — and even his socks — don’t fit. Hence the bare feet. I visited with him yesterday and the swelling seems to be receding , so he hopes that he may fit into something today. (He’s normally a 13 size shoe and he figured he’d need a 16EEE to fit his feet when they were at their worst.) So, even with bare feet, he’s quite clear-headed, as far as he ever is, anyway. 🙂
Why he doesn’t, at least, wrap his feet in bandages is beyond me — I certainly suggested that he do so.
Medically, his problems seem to be circulatory. His lungs are being drained of fluid regularly, and the volumes of fluid are notably large.Thankfully, he does not appear to have tuberculosis, which had been a possible diagnosis.
His breathing is better and he tells me that he might even be at his perch on Ronces for at least a short while this afternoon. All in all, he’s tough as hell.
Philip
Hi Everyone,
Good news. Tony was transferred from the ICU into a regular medical ward. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to actually see him, as he was being moved when I dropped by the hospital. Stay tuned.
Philip
Hi Everyone,
I saw Tony last night and he is breathing better. His main complaint (other than being stuck in the hospital in the first place) is that he’s not permitted to have any food or water until they’ve established what the problem(s) are. He’s wired, catheterized, and being oxygenated. He’s getting very good care.
On the positive side, he’s got more colour in his face than he’s had in a while. A lady (whom he wishes to thank profusely) found him keeled over on the sidewalk on Queen Street and called an ambulance. He remembers little after that.
I think he had a heart attack, though no physician am I. He’s also got some ugly-looking hernias in his upper abdomen and god knows what else.
Philip
I just spoke to Tony by phone; he’s very short of breath and we could only speak for a minute. I will be visiting him tonight. Many, many thanks to his sisters — Sharon for suggesting that he might have been hospitalized and to Rose for tracking him down. I’ll let everyone know about his condition once I’ve seen him.
For those who’d like to see him, visitors are permitted until 9pm. Here’s the hospital’s web site: stjoe.on.ca.
Philip
Hi Everyone,
I haven’t seen Tony in nearly 5 days — if you see him, please ask him to give me a ring — he’s got my number. Thank you.
Philip
TONY
“With all this construction on Roncesvalles right now, I’m getting a bit worried some of these stores won’t make it. I can tell you I’m not doing so well either, if you know what I mean.”
TONY
“If I can collect another $8, I’ve got a bed for the night, and it’s in a basement where it’s nice and cool.”
PHILIP
“So, did you go to the hospital?”
TONY
Yeah. I spent six hours there alright.”
PHILIP
“And?”
TONY
“The doc says she thinks I might of had a stroke but that’s different and this bump in my chest is stress. She’s right because I’ve had big-time stress the last months and I was pretty dizzy the other day too. I’ll tell you about that later. So the doctor said I should be staying the hospital but of course she knows me and I ain’t staying. That would just be putting me in a broom closet — there’s no way I was staying. Anyway, you just have to keep going.”
Tony has decided to go to St. Joseph Hospital. He’s got a notable bulge in his central abdomen. Surprisingly it’s not painful but it is somewhat hard-to-the-touch.
I’ll update you as soon as I hear from him.
Philip
TONY
“I never told you about the times Sharon and me got taken away by Children’s Aid. Once when they had us, then they decided not to give Sharon have her bottle and she was balling. Believe it or not, I escaped from the CAS building and got her her bottle and I even escaped back in with her milk bottle and gave it to her.
“No one’s going to take away my sister’s milk bottle if I can help it, if you know what I mean.”
TONY
“So Sharon came by the other day like she said in that email. You know, it’s maybe ten years since I’ve seen her. She gave this book of photos of our family. You should see the one where I’m with my Mom. I’ll get it for you. We’ll even put some in the blog.”
PHILIP
“She’s your younger sister, right?”
TONY
“Yup. I was so happy she came by. I haven’t seen her for ten years almost.”