Longview mayor says he expects to leave hospital soon after 'small brain bleed'

Longview News Journal
Staff reports
Dec 13, 2022, 7:00:46 PM

Longview Mayor Andy Mack says he was admitted into a Tyler intensive care unit this past week after an MRI showed he had a “small brain bleed,” and he is expecting to be released soon “and will resume all my normal activities at that time.”

Mack was absent from Thursday’s City Council meeting, and his wife, Kelly, told City Manager Rolin McPhee on Saturday that he had “a recent health event” and was in stable condition.

District 1 Councilman Tem Carpenter said Saturday that he was told by McPhee that Mack had the medical issue Wednesday and was in the Tyler ICU.

McPhee said Tuesday that he had spoken to Mack, and the mayor was “as focused” as he has ever been in the years McPhee has known him.

McPhee also said that during Mack’s hospitalization, city services were unaffected, noting Longview’s form of government in which the city manager oversees daily operations.

Councilwoman Kristen Ishihara, who is mayor pro tem, only was required to fill in for Mack during this past week’s council meeting, McPhee said.

Mack gave an update to his condition Tuesday afternoon in a Facebook post:

“Earlier last week I had a headache and neck ache that I attributed to some shoulder pain I had been having. By Wednesday ... my headache became unbearable, so I reached out to my brother, Dr. Ben Mack, to get his opinion.

“He ordered a head and neck MRI from Dr. Doug Holder at Open Imaging which revealed I had a small brain bleed. Without the quick and conscientious actions of Dr. Holder and his incredible staff, I am confident I would not be here today. ...

“After consulting with one of his neurosurgeon colleagues, my brother Ben swiftly picked me up from Open Imaging and drove me in his personal vehicle to UT Health East Texas hospital in Tyler where I was admitted into the Neuro ICU. My particular condition required the expertise of neuroradiology interventionalists in addition to a neurosurgeon — and the closest hospital to have both was in Tyler.

“Through a series of tests, I was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage and am expected to fully recover in short order. I did not have a stroke, aneurysm or blood clot. At no point in time were my cognitive abilities or fine motor skills/judgment impaired. I am already feeling immensely better — due primarily to so many people praying for me and sending well wishes. ...

“The main focus of my treatment has been to manage the pain which I can tell you has completely disappeared. I am expected to be released from the hospital within the next few days and will resume all my normal activities at that time.

“My medical team has said they don’t really know why this happened. But they assure me that these type of things very rarely reoccur, so I am to live my life happily without fear of this ever happening again. So that is exactly what I am going to aim to do.”