Mold delays homecoming for man paralyzed by illness

Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 17, 2007 at midnight

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What next?

Nine months after Durango native Scott Slade was paralyzed by a rare bacterial infection, the 44-year-old was looking forward to returning to his family home in San Diego.

He flew back last week - only to have his would-be homecoming waylaid by mushrooming mold.

"It was a nightmare," his wife, Kathy, said Tuesday.

Slade, 44, is breathing on a ventilator after collapsing Jan. 2 from a mysterious illness. It was later diagnosed as a bacterial infection that attacked his spinal cord and left the once-star athlete a quadriplegic.

On Oct. 8, one day before the Colorado College graduate was to return home from Craig Hospital, workers found mold - including an actual mushroom - spewing out of a bathroom that's being renovated.

"I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me,' " Kathy Slade said.

She and the couple's infant daughters, who were born two days after their father collapsed, were able to return to the house last week. But the threat of moldy air was considered too dangerous for Slade because he breathes on a ventilator.

Chances are good he will be able to come home Thursday, Kathy Slade said. Meantime, he and a battery of caregivers have been living in a nearby hotel, while she juggles the twin babies and a myriad of daily details.

"I live by chocolate these days," she quipped.

Until now, the question of "home" has been the one bright spot in a very dark year.

While Slade underwent rehabilitation at Craig Hospital, his family was able to stay free of charge in Bill and Jeannie Ritter's home, which is located a few blocks from Craig.

While he serves in office, the governor and his family are leasing their personal home to Craig patients at a below-market rate.

During that time, Slade was fitted with a shunt to drain spinal cord fluid. The hope is that over six months, the procedure will begin to ease his paralysis.

Slade's short-term goal was simple - which made the latest challenge all the more difficult.

When the mold was found a day before his return, Kathy Slade said she told him, " 'Hon, I think you should stay at Craig.' He said, 'I'm coming home.' He just wanted to get home."

torkelsonj@rockymountainnews.com or 303-954-5055

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