Francene Cucinello dies

I can't believe it. She was so young. What a shame.

I was a very infrequent listener to her show (when she worked, so did I), but the circumstances surrounding her death seem rather perplexing...according to news accounts, she enters the hospital complaining of a sinus infection (of which she had a history), then once in the hospital subsequently suffers a heart attack, followed by a brain aneurysm. Strange.

It may depend on whether they are using the correct terms - the information came from the family, not the hospital. She may have clots in her blood stream, which can cause a heart attack and a subsequent lack of oxygen to the brain. There may have been an undetected congential weak area in the blood vessels in the brain and the meds given after heart attack caused a aneurysm. From my training and experience, there can be a heart attack and a susequent cerebrovascular problem.

Richard and I are devastated by the loss of Francene. We have known her since she first came to town through them both being WVU alumni. She was a bright, informed, caring person. Her personality was so great, she could go to the U of L/WVU football game, sit in President Ramsey's box in full WVU regalia and not insult anyone! When she felt a wrong needed to be righted, she did not stop until every way to right it was used, she held our elected officials to the light and never blinked. I have visions of her telling the powers of heaven what needs to be done to do it better! We have lost a great voice in our community.

My comments were not meant to be conclusive, Suzi, but merely an observation that someone who appeared to be in good health enters a hospital and a few days later leaves dead...obviously the possibility of heretofore unknown (or unreported) pre-existing conditions must be considered...but it begs the question as to exactly what happened and the level of treatment she received.

Kind of how I felt as well John. Starting with a sinus infection and rapidly becoming (what would seem) a total crash of body systems. (Lungs, heart, brain) So sad.

I'm sorry, I did not mean to sound so pedantic. It was late; the paramedic in me was looking for an answer and the educator in me came out in my reply. I have been trying to sort my feelings about the loss of Francene out and this was the first time I posted about it

Suzi, I believe you are completely correct. They had to get her PT/INR up high enough to bust clots but if you have weak blood vessels an aneurism can occur. If the clot is not dissolved, a stroke, pulmonary embolism or another heart attack can occur. Regretfully the one treatment probably caused her her life due to an undetected problem. If you ever are on blood thinners and start getting incredibly bad headaches, call your doctor. I saw Chuck Olmstead having blinding headaches and regretfully he passed as did Rick Towles? from Artemisia.

I had the pleasure of meeting Francene in studio a few times and at a superball party when she was first in town. Sweet, charming, tactful and intelligent. I could add a lot more but I’d be reiterating everybody else’s thoughts of her.

Sad to see someone with her love of life and grand potential go so early in life…

I was told that she had pneumonia, her lung collapsed , they put on on a ventilator, and the ventilator supposedly malfunctioned. It went from there, heart attack, and brain aneurism.

Do not know all the particulars, this is hearsay, but I would keep my eyes on the news/papers too.