Keith Copeland


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	This now happened more than eight years ago, Keith is doing good now, able to play and to do everything he used to do. He wants to keep this post as a reminder for him and everybody that cares about him. On Feb. 20, 2005 Keith Copeland experienced a seizure due to a blood clot in his sinus vein. This condition is known als "thrombosis". Keith is now in a coma in intensive care, but is in stable condition. On March 1, 2005 Keith had a tracheotomy done. As of yesterday the procedure went well. However Keith will be under sedation until the swelling of his brain has subsided. Keep him in your prayers. The website will be updated as his condition changes. Ute and Wesley ---------------------------------------- March 8, 2005 The swelling has subsided and they are now trying to give him less sedation, but it will take a while until he wakes up. Please be patient, the website will be updated as his condition changes. Thank you for your support Ute --------------------------------------- March 11, 2005 Keith opened his eyes, he is moving his hands, he nods when he approves of something. It is still a long way, but we will make it.......... Thank you again for your support. Ute ----------------------------------------- March 14, 2005 Keith is pretty much awake now, probably wondering what's happening. He can't talk at the moment, but knows how to express "yes", "no" and he smiles every once in a while. The doctors are trying to get him into a rehabilitation hospital for early rehab as soon as next week. Keep your fingers crossed! And again, thank you for your support. Ute --------------------------------------- March 17, 2005 Keith is recovering very good. He probably will be going to the rehabilitation hospital tomorrow, March 18. A long way to go, but he will make it........ Thank you for your support, he will get all your messages. Ute ------------------------------------- March 18, 2005 Keith is going to the rehab, he should be on his way now, I'm throwing clothes in a bag and here I am going too............. Next update not before March 20. Ute ------------------------------------- March 21, 2005 Keith is at the rehabilitation hospital since friday, this is the first day I'm not visiting him since February 23, 2005. I miss him, I might go see him tomorrow! My friend Maudi just called after visiting him this evening. He is alright but very tired after he had to do some walking. And again, thank you for your support! Ute ------------------------------------- March 27, 2005 I just got back from the rehab hospital, he is recovering, very slowly, but he is getting better every day. There are plans to remove the cannula in his trachea in the coming week, that will make him able to speak all the time! He was sitting on the side of the bed for about 10 minutes today, which is a big task for him. Small steps! Thank you for the support Ute --------------------------------------- March 28, 2005 I just got back from the rehab hospital again. I read Keith all of the emails, entries in the guestbook and cards. He told me to thank everybody for the encouragement and the support. Thank you from Keith and Ute - we love you! -------------------------------------- April 3, 2005 And again I'm back from my weekend with Keith, he is progressing very good but is still very weak - who blames him, he was not moving at all for 3 1/2 weeks, his muscles are not strong anymore and he lost a lot of weight. He is sharp as ever, remembers everything and would love to have a phone! But since he still has the tracheostomy tube in his throat he can't talk good enough. The best thing is...... he's getting impatient! I think this is a very good sign...... Thank you for all the emails, phonecalls, entries in the guestbook, your support is very appreciated and loved! Ute ----------------------------------------- April 5, 2005 Just got back from the hospital - the tracheostomy tube is out, he can talk, he even laughed today. He is on the right track. It will take a while until he's totally fixed, but I truly believe that he's going to be fine. Thank you for your support during this difficult time - you are true friends! Ute ---------------------------------------- April 7, 2005 They started to feed him with jelly on wednesday - he hates jelly! On friday they gave him some mashed potatoes, he liked that much better! Soon they will give him "real" food, everybody knows that he's going to love that! Now his students, colleagues and friends start visiting him, he's enjoying that too. Thank you for your support Ute ---------------------------------------- April 11, 2005 Keith is starting to have fun, he's doing very good already and his doctor asked me to bring him a small drumset, so he can start playing to prepare for his job at the Hochschule in Köln. Of course, he is crazy about it and can't wait to start practising. His prognosis is good, but he will have to stay for 4 to 6 more weeks at the hospital. I hope my next message will contain a photo of Keith behind his drumset. We cannot thank you enough for your support! Ute ---------------------------------------- BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215-3693 Tel. 617 266-1400 www.berklee.edu March 22, 2005 Dear Ms. Fischer: I am writing to inform you that a gift has been made to Berklee College of Music by Sabian Cymbals for a scholarship in honor of Keith Copeland. Bill Zildjian of Sabian made a presentation of this scholarship at Berklee on March 10. Please accept my personal wishes for Keith's full and speedy recovery. I know I speak for all of Keith's close friends at Berklee when I say that he is foremost in out thoughts. Sincerely Roger H. Brown, President BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC ----------------------------------- April 13, 2005 The drumset is there, we didn't have a chance to set it up, but that will happen very soon. Thank you for your support Ute ------------------------------------ April 20, 2005 Keith set up and played his drumset for the first time since he got sick. He was a very happy person today, also, he took his first shower since he got sick and he loved it. Everything is getting better little by little and we have a lot of hope! We love you all - thank you for all your calls, emails, entries in the guestbook, visits and last but not least your prayers. Ute and Keith ------------------------------------ April 27, 2005 That's Keith playing his small drumset made for him by Joe Cusatis from The Modern Drum shop in New York - obviously he's having fun. Keith is getting stronger and stronger, he's planning his next gigs already......... Thank you again for your support. Ute ------------------------------------- May 2, 2005 Keith finally got rid of all the tubes going in and out of his body - he calls himself "Free Keith". Finally he can move around without carrying something. That must be a very good feeling. No more dressings and bandages after more than 10 weeks. I know that everyone of family, friends, colleagues and fans is happy for him and with us that he recovered so great. I'm not going to write diary anymore until something really important happens, but I want to say: Thank you so much for all your help and support during this difficult time. Every card, letter, email, visit, entry in the guestbook was a big thing for Keith and me. We love you all! Ute and Keith --------------------------------------- May 7, 2005 ...................and finally - 36 hours at home!! From Saturday morning until Sunday night. Even though it was very exhausting, Keith had a lot of fun and so had everybody that saw or talked to him. He ate some homemade food, went to the store, all things he had been missing for more than 11 weeks. It must have been wonderful for him, it sure was wonderful for me! Ute -------------------------------------- May 17, 2005 Very good news today: Keith is coming home for good on May 27, 2005. His doctor is very happy about his progress and thinks that he will be alright at home. We want to thank the team of the "Neurochirurgische Intensivstation" at the Universityhospital in Mainz and the doctors and nurses at the Asklepios Neurologische Klinik Bad Salzhausen. They all did a wonderful job on Keith and helped me a lot also. Thank you so much. We will never forget what you did for us. Also we want to thank all our family, friends, students and even some strangers for their support during these hard times. We love you Ute and Keith -------------------------------------- May 28, 2005 Yes, he's finally home! He played a "Farewell" Concert at the hospital in Bad Salzhausen on Wednesday, May 25, and it was quite a success! He was accompanied by Jean Yves Jung (org) and Harry Petersen (sax). Everybody was surprised how good he is doing after such a "short" time. Now it is time for him to get used to "normal life". It looks like he will be teaching again next semester in Cologne and he will definitely start to play concerts as soon as his doctors allow him to! Ute -------------------------- May 28, 2005 It is great to be home. Everything seems a little strange after being away for so long. I am still a little weak but very happy to be back home. Keith ------------------------ August 7, 2005 After playing 3 concerts while on vacation in Southern France, Keith is recovering great....... He practices every day at his bunker room, goes there by bike to get some more exercise and of course he tries to get a lot of rest too. He is very busy - so please forgive him for not answering every one of your e-mails. We still are very thankful for all the support we got and are still getting. Ute --------------------------- October 2, 2005 Last night was October 1st and I played a concert with Gustl Mayer opposite the Barrelhouse Jazz Band and it was a big step for me. It was the first time that I played for an hour and a half straight with no break in a concert situation. The band played very intensely for every tune, even the ballad. I felt very good that I had the strength to play this long and intensly in this type of situation. I wish to thank Dieter Nentwig the producer of this event and Gustl Mayer the bandleader who hired me for trusting me that I could perform at this level! I felt very good about my performance with this band and it definitely restores my confidence that I am getting back to the strength that I use to have before I got sick. I want to thank everyone who has supported and encouraged me through this very traumatic period in my life. I cannot express how much your support means to me! I thank all of you again. It was my first time ever playing in the Alte Oper which is the "Carnegie Hall of Frankfurt"! It was a dream come true for me to play there after living in Germany for over 10 years! Thank you again. Sincerely, Keith Copeland ------------------------------- Dec 23, 2005 After a week of vacation on the island of Fuerteventura, that we needed very much, we will be celebrating a very relaxed Christmas here in Frankfurt. We wish all our family, friends, fans and last but not least students, a wonderful Christmas. Ute and Keith ------------------------------- Jan 1, 2006 We would like to wish everybody a healthy, peaceful and wonderful year 2006. Ute and Keith -------------------------------