Dr. Charles Godberson, who has devoted a half century to serving the medical needs of Barrhead area residents, officially hung up his stethoscope in early June writing a letter to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, closing a career that began in the mid-1950’s.
Although the 86-year-old family physician retired from the Barrhead Clinic in 1989, he occasionally made the odd house call or performed a pilot medical physical.
However, that changed on May 30 at about 8:30 a.m. when Godberson suffered a stroke.
“It came on suddenly without warning,” he said. “I was out back putting something in the back of my truck when my right arm and leg went flaccid.”
As a result, Godberson fell to the ground beside the truck.
Fortunately, his neighbours saw him lying there.
“At first they [neighbours] thought I was inspecting something under the truck that needed to be repaired, but they said I had been lying there too long,” Godberson said.
Within 10 minutes of the neighbours calling 911, ambulance crews arrived.
After taking a quick history, EMS quickly rushed Godberson to the Westlock Healthcare Centre. Because the doctor is so well known in the community, EMS crews did not ask to see his identification, Godberson joked.
Suspected stroke victims in the region are sent to Westlock because it has a computerized tomography (CT) scanner which is critical in determining what type of stroke has occurred.
“If you have a cerebral vascular incident or stroke they want to have a study done within three hours,” he said. “Because if it is a clot they can dissolve it [through medication] and reduce the permanent effects of the stroke.”
If the stroke symptoms are being caused by a hemorrhage and doctors administer clot-dissolving drugs, it will make the situation worse.
In Godberson’s case his stroke was being caused by a blood clot that had broken off from another area within the body and then blocked off a vessel to a section of his brain.
After spending three days at the Westlock hospital he was transferred to Barrhead where he spent three weeks receiving physiotherapy.
“I’m really fortunate. I still have some weakness in this leg [pointing to his right leg], but I can get around without using a walker,” he said, adding he is hopeful he will eventually make a full recovery.
Godberson said he was thankful for everyone involved in his treatment in both Westlock and Barrhead, including a special thank you to his friend Betty Properzi, whom has helped him immensely during his recovery.
