Mercer mechanic receives overhaul and a Community Center full of support
By ALLAN TINKER
Ed Schumann, a do-it-yourself kind of guy, hadn’t spent a day in the hospital since he was born, he stated. That all came to a quick halt when he found himself without any strength to work following a week of feeling like he had a weight or compression in his chest. A quick trip to the Turtle Lake medical facility and his health provider, Sue Wardner, had him on his way to Medcenter One in Bismarck, not back home like he wanted to go. That was a month ago. Schumann is getting along fairly well since his angioplasty. He explained mesh tubes (stents) are keeping his blood supply lines going, but his work has been severely restricted. "I am allowed to lift up to 10 pounds," and he can’t do anything stressful. He will go back to the doctor for an appointment in mid-March, and then they will take it from there, Ed added. He has no health insurance but is a veteran, serving two years in the US Army at the end of the Viet Nam era, though not in Nam. He mentioned that he didn’t know if he had high blood pressure or not but that he had been told his cholesterol reading was okay. A slim, energetic fellow, he admits his diet will change a little, and that he has given up smoking. Son Jon has taken temporary leave from his job at Wallwork Truck Center in Bismarck to keep his father’s station, Ed’s Service, open in Mercer. Another son, James, also lives and works in Bismarck.
