Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - At-Large Michigan City Councilman Joe Doyle was recovering Thursday in a Crown Point hospital from what friends say was successful surgery on his brain.

Michigan City Parks Superintendent Darrell Garbacik said Thursday the surgery - which was apparently performed to stem swelling or bleeding on Doyle's brain, went "very well."

Garbacik said doctors, though, were keeping Doyle relaxed and not allowing any visitors so Doyle wouldn't become "excited or distracted."

"Joe's a resilient little fellow," Garbacik said of the longtime park board president and current city council liaison to the board. "We wish him the best."

Doyle apparently fell on ice around the beginning of January and injured his head, causing the issues with his brain. Due to the injury, Doyle will miss Saturday's Meltdown.

Meltdown is the annual winter fundraiser for the Summer festival, of which Doyle is the head and long-time advocate. Garbacik said it might be the first Meltdown Doyle has ever missed.

1/29/2008 10:24:00 AM
Doyle Better, Out Of Hospital
MICHIGAN CITY - City Councilman Joe Doyle continues to recover after brain surgery following a fall on his sidewalk earlier this month.

Doyle said Monday that he was released from the hospital a week ago today and feels fully recovered, except he is still tired from the experience.

"The many get-well cards were unbelievable. It is hard to describe what a great feeling it is to receive this type of support. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart," Doyle said in a written note he brought to The News-Dispatch.

He also thanked The News-Dispatch and WEFM radio station for keeping his family and friends informed during his hospital stay.

Doyle said he slipped on ice on the sidewalk at his home on Friday, Jan. 4, and banged his head, momentarily losing consciousness. He got up and continued his normal activities, however, including attending Mayor Chuck Oberlie's inaugural ball the next day.

But by the following weekend, Doyle said, the pain he was feeling in his head was unbearable and he went to St. Anthony Memorial here, then was taken by ambulance in a snow storm to St. Anthony Hospital in Crown Point, where surgery was performed Wednesday, Jan. 16.

The injury caused a broken blood vessel, and the blood buildup created pressure and pain. A hole was drilled in his skull to insert a drain to relieve that pressure, and now the bleeding has stopped and he is not experiencing pain, he said.

Much of the time spent in the hospital, he said, "was like a blur."

Doyle, 69, a retired steel executive in his second term on the City Council, said he was released Tuesday, Jan. 22, and this week he is still letting others drive him when he travels.

Word of his hospitalization became public Tuesday, Jan. 15, which was the first council meeting he had missed since being elected, he said.