— by Rebecca Cook —
Libby Cook last summer in Inderøy, Norway
Libby had a ‘blister aneurism.’ Minuscule but in her case potentially deadly. She had two falls last Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) and by Sunday was escorted to Island Hospital where they sent her to Swedish Hospital, Cherry Hill. There was an angiogram which detected the aneurism. A group of doctors decided the best course of events was surgery and so it was. They went underneath the brain and ‘clipped’ the blister, saw a blood clot as well as bleeding. In the end, the lead doctor said that technically the surgery was excellent and there was a strong probably that the surgery had saved her life; the aneurism could have potentially been fatal if left unattended.
Whew! Who knew? Certainly not Libby nor any one else for that matter.
Libby is now in a ‘general’ room at Swedish Hospital. She has improved greatly but will still be there for at least a week, possibly longer. So many of her friends have asked after her, wanting to know what they can do to help Libby. Several friends have donated their time feeding her horses, organizing her finances and such—and a big shout out to those folks! There will be several things she will need once she has come home.
Firstly she will need some care. I will be with her initially but can’t stay much past a week, so she will need looking after. Just what that entails will be determined by her healing process and current needs. Those who are interested in assisting some how on that level, please PM me (Rebecca Cook on Facebook). Once I figure what is needed, I can get back to you.
The second big thing will be some financial assistance during her recovery. Since she is self-employed with a smallish social security stipend and won’t be able to do her normal strenuous types of work right now, or for possibly months, she needs some financial assistance. Several people have suggested I open an account for donations and I have done that.
If you wish to donate funds to help Libby, you can go into any KeyBank and deposit those funds to: Libby Cook Contribution Account. The money will go directly into the account and she will have immediate access to it. If there are no KeyBanks near your part of the world, you can mail a check to me and I will gladly deposit it for her. (PM me for contact info.)
Once again I can’t express how much all the prayers and well wishing have helped in this difficult time. Libby is extremely grateful for all you have done. Your kindness has been wonderful, believe me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
[While Libby is in the hospital even friendly phone calls aren’t all that conducive to rest and recuperation. Personally, I want her to sleep, rest, eat, rest, take a few calls, see a few people, rest, eat, rest, eat, rest and rest some more. Brain injuries are tricky and it takes some time for everything to straighten out. She may sound alert and ‘there’ (and she is sometimes) but sometimes gets confused and mixes things up. That is a result of the disruption the surgery and aneurism caused. So if you want to call her, do, but please remember that her condition is essentially delicate and she may not be clear. Right now it’s one day at a time.
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I am writing for many of us who have worked beside Libby for years in her role as an oil spill responder with Islands’ Oil Spill Association.
First, I know I am speaking for more than just myself when I say that it is wonderful to have the opportunity to “sing our praises” for Libby when she is still with us, resting and healing and in good care. So often in our lives, it is not until we have lost someone that we take the time to express our love, gratitude and admiration for them. In this case, Libby will be able to read and hear how much we love and appreciate her!
Libby has been one of IOSA’s most dedicated and versatile spill responders for the past 10 years. She has been trained and is very experienced in all aspects of oil spill response, including containment, clean-up and recovery, as well as being one of our most dedicated and skilled oiled bird responders. She is also trained and experienced as crew for setting up mainland oiled bird mobile rehab units and as core crew for when IOSA is sent out to a spill site to handle the first Site Safety Assessments, monitoring the air near a spill to determine where and when it is safe for other response crews to approach the spill site and begin working.
As a little background, Islands’ Oil Spill Association is a community-based, non-profit spill response organization and we are called to respond whenever there is a vessel anywhere in the county that has experienced an event causing it to leak fuel or other hazardous materials into the waters in and around the San Juan Islands. When we are contacted about a spill and it becomes clear that we need an experienced crew to begin the response ASAP, Libby has been one of the first people we call. Even though she is most often very busy with her other work, she has more often than not dropped what she is doing and immediately begin to respond. Libby is one of the six IOSA responders who spent nearly a month in 2010 down on the Gulf Coast helping with Search & Rescue operations for oiled birds during the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Libby can seemingly do anything! She is an experienced boat handler and crew, she has assisted in deploying many thousands of feet of containment boom over the years, including setting anchors, going ashore to set up shore attachments for boom, working with sorbents to recover oil, etc. that is already in the water and all the tasks involved in containment and clean-up that are too many to list here.
In addition to all of the physical work she does for IOSA, Libby has also contributed greatly to the training of other volunteers who want to become certified responders … and last but not least, Libby has repeatedly made financial donations to IOSA over the years. And as anyone who knows her can attest, she works hard for every bit of money she has.
I mention this here because I am urging everyone who can help Libby with her financial situation now to do so. Every small amount adds up and I feel a strong sense of wanting to give back to this amazing woman who gives so much of her time and energy to do everything she can to help protect our precious environment and all sentient beings on the planet.
Libby is a shining light in the world and I cannot express how thankful I am that she is still with us. She has always been there to help others and it is my hope that many of us can step up at this time and give back to her as she has given.
Libby, you are loved by so many. I personally cannot wait to see you again and hold you close for just a moment.
Jackie Wolf
IOSA Operations Coordinator
PO Box 12, Lopez Island, WA 98261
email: iosaoffice@rockisland.com
http://www.iosaonline.org
office: 360-468-3441
Thinking of you, Dear Libby. Keep up the good healing efforts and we’ll be there when you return to Orcas. Love & Light. Gretchen
Thank you, Rebecca for bringing this situation to all of us…I would not have known anything about Libby, possibly ’til months after.
And so good to have a successful outcome for what, as you say could have been deadly. Hooray for Dr.s who make the right decisions.
Libby, get someone to bring some of your great jewelry to you…it will brighten your mood as well as that of the whole ward………..
Love you,
Margot
Great letter, Becca, and great sister support! Thank you for letting us know what happened, what was done to fix it, how Libby is doing, and how we can help! Prayers, healing thoughts, and contributions are coming from all directions. Love,
Molly
Thank you Rebecca for posting this news, and for keeping the community updated – I might not have known about Libby if you didn’t post this. So glad to hear this was caught and that she will recover. Libby is a gem, and someone who is really there for other people for the long haul. There is much I don’t know about Libby, but I know she is a smart, strong, capable, kind,compassionate person with a ton of integrity. Just reading all the oil spill things she did in the past 10 years brings even more deep respect and gratitude for the person she is. Thank you, Libby. We’re pulling for you.
Get well soon Libby
Your in my prayers and sending lots of love
Libby, you have always been there for us. Please know we are now there for you. Our prayers and strong healing energy for your full recovery are being sent straight to you along the winds from far away St. Croix. We will be in touch with you through Rebecca;as we want to leave you to heal quietly and quickly.
Our love always, Nancy and Tony
Libby is one of the sweetest people on Orcas Island. We will certainly make a donation to her account at Key Bank and encourage others to do the same. We sincerely wish her a speedy and complete recovery. Thank you too, Rebecca, for informing us and being so supportive of your sister. Our love to you both, Jim and Sara.
Ditto all of the above. We love you both, Libby and Becca. Let us know what we can do. Vance & Antoinette