Meyer recovering, thankful for outpouring of support

Sept. 8, 2001

Northern State men's basketball coach Don Meyer is back at home in Aberdeen after recovering from five bypass heart surgery and is in good spirits.

The surgery, performed August 23 at the Heart Hospital of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, was a complete success and there were no complications. Meyer said that undergoing such a serious procedure, and beginning the recovery and rehabilitation process that follows, is a life-changing experience.

"Your whole life goes on a screen in front of you and you think of all the things you could have done better or about all the bad things you've done," Meyer said. "Your first thought is to be right with God and right with your family, particularly your spouse and children."

Meyer said he and his family were overwhelmed at the outpouring of support from the Aberdeen community and from all over the nation. He and his family kept a list of every phone call and gift received while he was in the hospital.

"I would like to try to thank everyone in Aberdeen that did something for me through this but it's impossible. I can't express how much I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers." Meyer said. "But I would specifically like to thank Mike Salem, who took off a couple days of work to stay in Sioux Falls. Also Brent Deckert, who allowed my wife and family to stay at his house for a few days while I was hospitalized."

Another person providing support in the form of daily phone calls and gifts to Meyer was Utah coach and longtime friend Rick Majerus, who once underwent a seven-bypass heart surgery of his own and returned to coaching feeling better than ever. But not before taking the necessary time off to recuperate. Meyer said with advances in medical technology, his good health going in, and the excellent work done by both Avera St. Luke's in Aberdeen and the Heart Hospital of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, his time away from coaching should be less than what Majerus had to take off 12 years ago.

But if there is one thing that Majerus stressed and helped Meyer to realize, it is that there is no sense in hurrying back.

"Rick was really helpful," Meyer said. "He was able to give me real advice and encouragement as someone who's been through it. He said I'm going to feel like a new man when I come back because I'll have a bloodflow I've never had before."

Meyer expects to be back in the office doing some coaching tasks by mid- to late October, but said he can rest easy knowing his program is in the hands of head assistant coach Paul Sather and the rest of the men's basketball coaching staff. The coaches come to Meyer's home every day to visit and keep him updated.

"I'm really excited about our fall recruiting class coming up, and I think we had a great summer of recruiting and evaluation," Meyer said. "I know I never have to worry about things getting done, because Paul has everything well in hand. He is truly one of the finest coaches I've ever worked with, period.

"My job right now is to rest and rehabilitate and to come back at the proper time," Meyer said.

Northern's first game, an exhibition at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Nov. 11, will bring Meyer back to the city he spent 24 years in prior to Northern. He said one gratifying thing about his recent health situation is that it has helped re-establish a lot of relationships with his former David Lipscomb University players. He plans to have a dinner in Nashville for his family, friends and former players in the area.