[CSGibson]

I heard third hand that Curtis Cheek is gravely ill of the swine flu, contracted while he was in Brazil. I met Curtis Cheek at a regional when he paid me the questionable compliment of saying that I looked a bit like his partner, Joe Grue. He seems like the kind of guy that would be a blast to hang out with, and I'm hoping that someone can deny this rumor.

[laural]

curtis cheek is gravely ill. It is not a rumor. He is an incredibly nice person and it would be a terrible loss if he did not recover. He did contact swine flu and now has pneumonia. He remains hospitalized

[Jlall]

Yeah it's true. He was in big danger of dying for a while, but his lungs have gotten better. He is still very sick though, and is in a medically induced coma right now. His wonderful girlfriend Phyllis and Joe are still with him in Brazil.

[MFA]

I hope very much he recovers.
I don't know Curtis that well, but we've met at tournaments quite a few times and have had beers at the bar. He is a very nice guy.

[Jlall]

BTW I didn't mean to imply he is out of danger of dying, it's still possible, just a much less likely occurance than even a few days ago from what I've heard.

Curtis is one of the most genuinely nice and fun people I have ever met. He is also a huge fighter, and if there is a way to beat this I'm sure he will. He's a truly amazing and kind person.

[hrothgar]

*****...

I have some friends from the Boston area who know Curtis. They always had nothing but good things to say about the guy.

Hoping to hear of a speedy recovery...

[neilkaz]

Best wishes for a full recovery for Curtis and lets hope that none of us who travel lots, like many of us, contract this horrible disease.

.. neilkaz ..

[andrei]

if anybody know, did he have any previously health-related problems?

I am just curios if swine flu can inflict so much damage in a healthy person.

[Jlall]

andrei, on Sep 21 2009, 02:02 PM, said:

if anybody know, did he have any previously health-related problems?

nope AFAIK

[JoAnneM]

My best wishes to him and those caring for him.

[Tola18]

andrei, on Sep 21 2009, 02:02 PM, said:

I am just curios if swine flu can inflict so much damage in a healthy person.

Yes, it can. This is why "swine" flu is so nasty. Not because more people dies in it then in common flu They dont AFAIK [with one exception: it had a bad outburst someplace in Mexico]. But because even otherwise healthy quite young persons can die if it gets really bad.

[Tola18]

Curtis is also often participating in BBO Juniors wednesday demo-play. He plays and friendly and generously shares with his knowledge and experience.

Thus, also we from JuniorsBBO do hold our thumbs and send a lot of positive vibes!

[vdoubleu]

Curtis is a very close friend+ a mainstay for us for our Juniors. There has

never been a time when I have asked him to play at our Juniors Teaching


Table on Wednesday &, if available, he wld ever turn me down!!



Our thoughts & prayers are with him in this very sad moment,



Valerie

[JoAnneM]

According to what I have read it seems to be most dangerous for young children and young adults. Have no idea why.

[Rain]

Because older people may have developed immunity to close families of this virus from past outbreaks. I'll see if I can find a link to this.

Hope Curtis gets well soon.


edit

Quote

People who contracted flu prior to 1957 appeared to have some immunity to H1N1. A May 20, 2009 New York Times article stated: "Tests on blood serum from older people showed that they had antibodies that attacked the new virus, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, chief flu epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a telephone news conference. That does not mean that everyone over 52 is immune, since some Americans and Mexicans older than that have died of the new flu."[

http://en.wikipedia....09_flu_pandemic

[NickRW]

JoAnneM, on Sep 22 2009, 06:08 PM, said:

According to what I have read it seems to be most dangerous for young children and young adults. Have no idea why.

The people at most risk of catching it in the first place are the same as for any other type of flu (the young, the elderly, pregnant women, persons with other medical conditions - because all these groups have immume systems that are either immature, weak, suppressed or under stress). For most, becoming infected is no worse than any other sort of flu.

Some of the worst cases have happened among the relatively young - there has been speculation that this is due to a phenomenon called "cytokine storm (essentially an over reaction of the immune system that goes out of control).

Nick

[JoAnneM]

Does anyone have an update?

[Jlall]

JoAnneM, on Sep 25 2009, 11:27 AM, said:

Does anyone have an update?

He got out of his coma yesterday, he is talking some and recovering slowly.

[JoAnneM]

I have met Curtis once and he probably doesn't remember me, but I am so happy to hear that good news.

[paulg]

Memphis MOJO's update