The Florida Masochist: Eric Dolch update

Some of you may recall me blogging about this teenage boy, the son of Palm Beach Post golf writer Craig Dolch, in the past. Click here, here and here for a reminder.

Here is the most recent update on Eric's recovery

Thankfully, for the Dolches and the concerned golf community, this week marks the 16th week in which Eric has been home from the hospital, and he is progressing in his rehabilitation. Eric left the hospital on August 31, following a massive surgery where doctors removed a damaged part of his brain.

“We don’t know if he’ll be able to see, walk, talk, we still don’t know. He is saying words, showing emotions, doing things appropriately with his arms like scratching,” said Craig. “It will probably be months or a year before we get a true picture of how he is going to come out of this for the rest of his life.

“Only Eric’s brain and God and time will tell. There were days he would have 100 seizures a day and now he is averaging one a week since he has been home.”

Weighing just 113 pounds before the surgery, Eric has put on over 30 pounds and is looking healthier. He still has to be fed the food, but can now eat on his own.

“He was actually in a coma for four months, but in a sense it was almost a year that he couldn’t be himself,” Craig said. “Think of how you feel after one bad day of sleep and then multiply that by 400. So it might be six to nine months until we figure out if Eric is going to walk.”

And you can bet that this Christmas will be much better than the last, as the family can rejoice together at home.

“There is no good time to be in the hospital but being in at Christmas, it is a pretty depressing time for the family,” said Craig. “It is hard to celebrate, but this year the idea of him being home--I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have him home for the holidays. And to have him home for good now, it is only going to get better and better.”

So Eric is back at home and Craig has returned to work, as his employer the Palm Beach Post had given him a year off to take care of his son. Craig, who has written about golf off and on for 20-plus years, attended the 2006 PGA Championship, his first time covering the game since that U.S. Open.

Maybe golf is just that, a game. But it’s a game that can have a pretty powerful impact on a father and son, whether it’s Tiger Woods and his late father Earl or a more ordinary twosome. And for Craig and Eric, it’s a game that, in some small way, has reached out to help improve their lives.