Dixon City Councilman Rick Fuller Recovering From Serious Brain Injury

Dixon City Councilman Rick Fuller would rather be on the dais with his fellow council members, but he can’t – his doctor has ordered him to take time to recover from a blood clot that formed in his brain.

Fuller began experiencing bad headaches in March, after taking a trip to Eureka, he said.

“I came home and I had a headache and it didn’t stop,” he said. 

Fuller went to see the doctor who prescribed him some medication, but the medicine did nothing to stop the headaches.

“I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t see very well, I couldn’t balance … it felt like the top of my head was going to blow off,” he said.

That’s when Fuller contacted his son, who is a doctor, about the problem.

“My son took me to the emergency room personally, to UC (Davis) Medical Center,” Fuller said. “They did an MRI and a CAT Scan and both of those things showed that I had a clot on the brain and that the clot is on the top of the brain.”

Doctors prescribed blood-thinning medication and that’s when things took a turn for the worse. The medication caused leakage on top of his brain, he said. To make matters worse, Fuller developed a respiratory infection that was brought on by his weakened state, he said.

Now off of the blood-thinning medication, Fuller is recovering from the blood clot in his brain, but is still not at 100 percent. During his recovery, Fuller has missed the last few meetings of the city council.

“I feel better, I have good days,” Fuller said. “Once in a while I have headaches. It’s still a continuing saga of having it dissipate. I never expected something like this. It’s set me back. I’m a pretty strong guy, not very sickly. I wouldn’t say I’m sick … I couldn’t focus. I experience tremendous fatigue and (diminished) ability to concentrate.”

Fuller’s doctor has told him to take it easy at least until May 31, and said to rest and heal from the brain injury. Fuller said his prognosis is good and he intends to return to the dais.

“I just had to put it all on hold just to avoid creating a worsened problem,” he said. “It’s not easy for me not to do anything. I’m a pretty active guy. I’ve always been robust and feisty. And then to feel like I’m not fulfilling my responsibilities. I have to take the time to get well, there’s too much at stake. But you know, I’ll start easing back into it and when I get the clearance from the doctor.”

City Manager Nancy Huston said she wishes Fuller a speedy recovery and expects him to return to the dais soon. Fuller’s fellow city council members have also expressed support of Fuller and hope he makes a full recovery.