Mike Sutton has taken a major step in recovering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The Tennessee Tech men's basketball head coach no longer needs a ventilator and has been moved from Specialty Select Hospital in Nashville to Cookeville Regional Medical Center.

Mike Sutton

"It just happened really quickly," says Sutton's wife, Karen. "The respiratory people saw a lot of improvement and were prodding him along to get off the ventilator. Once you're off, it's time to move on."

Sutton stopped using the ventilator in mid-July and was transported July 21 from Nashville to Cookeville, where he has nestled into a private room. The 49-year-old Sutton has been taking small steps on his road to recovery from a disorder that has no apparent cause.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome, an inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nerves that causes paralysis, immobilized Sutton in early April during a trip to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Portsmouth, Va., where former Golden Eagle standout Willie Jenkins was playing.

After being admitted to Bons Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, Va., and then moving to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Sutton has been working hard on his physical rehabilitation at Specialty Select.

At first, Sutton was almost motionless and on a ventilator while being listed in critical condition. No longer listed as being in critical condition, he is also showing movement in his lower body.

"We are just happy that Cookeville had a place for him," Karen says. "We are just happy to be here."

Although Sutton has returned to Cookeville, his wife is asking that he doesn't have any visitors before 3 p.m. because of his rigorous physical therapy schedule. She is also discouraging "drop-in" visitors at the hospital.

"Anybody who knows us will know someone who can get in touch with me to make arrangements to come in," Karen says. "We'll just have to work it that way."

Sutton's move to Cookeville means Karen won't be spending endless hours in Nashville and they will be just a stone's throw away from their house on 10th Street.

"I can run home for 30 minutes and pick up the mail or change out the laundry or have lunch with a friend," she says. "There will be a period of adjustment but it's good just to get our lives back and get back to our support group here."

— Story by Buddy Pearson, sports editor at the Herald-Citizen