PLYMOUTH, N.H. – About a month ago, Spanish professor and Department Chair of the Foreign Language Department, Virginia Garlitz, suffered from a blood clot in the right lobe of her brain. She spent three weeks at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where they removed it.
Her condition is called Arteriole Venous Malformation, which is when the clot ruptures and bleeds. It is different from an aneurysm and is not a stroke. This condition was a surprise, as it had not been seen in her family medical past before. She was not in a coma but in and out of a sleep stage.
Currently Professor Garlitz is at Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, in Windsor Vermont about 60 miles from Plymouth. She cannot yet speak but the staffs at the hospitals are of amazing excellence and organize new types of therapies for her each day. She has been responsive with head and hand motions, understands where she is, what happened and has even made a couple of jokes. Her complexion is coming back and although she needs to be in a wheelchair or bed most of the time, she gets up for exercise and speech and physical therapy.
Virginia Garlitz has been with Plymouth State College since 1972. She is head of International Week and the advisor to the World Language Society. One of her many accomplishments in the world of foreign language is being regarded as a world authority on the work of Spanish author, Valle Incl·n.
Spanish professor Roger Tinnell and friend of Garlitz says, “She has always been a splendid colleague, hard-working, discreet, and eager to find good solutions to problems. Her dedication to the furthering of the study of Foreign Languages is exemplary. THer home has always been open to colleagues and students and her laughter is a warm and welcome addition to the halls of Hyde.”
Sophomore Sebastian Rodriguez says, “Professor Garlitz continually does a lot for the Spanish department as well as playing an active role in the Latin American club. She was committed in the development of next year’s campus theme of Latin America. I’m always impressed by her ongoing effort to bring positive things to campus.”
Associate Professor of English and Virginia Garlitz’s husband Robert, says that “eventually with another surgery and slow patient healing for a year or more, will result in full recovery.”