Dr. Jim King is ready for his second act. After a brain bleed last spring, the longtime optometrist and part-time magician recently retired from his 50-year practice and now plans a new chapter in his life.

King wasn't planning on shutting down his practice quite so quickly. At 74, he still went to his office regularly during the weekdays to see patients, examine their eyes and prescribe lens changes. He and his wife Margaret enjoyed an active social life and went on daily walks at Canyon Lake Park, not far from their multi-storied home.

But on May 24, all that changed.

King suffered a subdural hematoma, also called a brain bleed. The condition left King paralyzed on the left side of his body, which only responded to pain. Although his speech wasn't adversely affected, he did have to relearn to use his left hand and his fingers, as well as learn to walk again.

"Walking was impossible," King said. "I had to learn how to swallow. I had worked with patients who had had strokes; then, suddenly, I was there."

For about a month at Rapid City Regional Rehabilitation Institute, King's recovery was aided by the medical health care staff of occupational, physical and speech therapists, all of whom prodded and cajoled King to achieve more and more of his goals that would lead to an independent life.

Physical therapist Brooke Sturlaugson helped King regain his mobility. His first long-distance trek lasted 17 minutes. Since then, he has traveled miles. "I love Brooke. She took me and remolded me," he said.

Occupational therapist Jon Bosworth used a device called the Minnesota manipulation board to strengthen King's left hand and eye coordination.

"Initially, Jim couldn't use his hand at all," Bosworth said. "His recovery has been amazing."

Using his left hand, King takes a peg, flips it and puts it into a hole on an upper tray. It is a timed exercise, so there's a certain amount of speed involved.

"I couldn't do it at first," King said as he fit the peg into the peg hole.

King initially had difficulty dividing his attention and attending to his left side. Yet he has worked to overcome those obstacles, Bosworth said.

A recent exercise found King fitting all the pegs in four minutes and 20 seconds using his left hand, compared to one minute and 39 seconds using his right hand. "The left hand is coming along there," Bosworth said.

"My left hand was my magic hand," King says.

In 1985, King appeared on the "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" in Los Angeles. Both men shared an interest in magic. King did a couple of card tricks, then pulled out his top trick. Before a national audience of millions of viewers, King hummed "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and slipped the tendons of his left hand over the tops of his knuckles. The effect was like watching a piano being played.

It was a hit.

"I had musical tendons," King said. "For a day or two, I was a star."

Last month, he demonstrated the trick again, noting that the tendons of his little finger, ring finger and middle finger don't slip over his knuckles as readily as before and are still troublesome. "I don't have it mastered," King admitted. "They're the weakest link."

Still, it shows a marked improvement over what he could do in May.

Early in his rehabilitation, the staff decided that they would set a goal for King to return to his home. They visited the house to look for possible safety issues. The spiral staircase caused the biggest concern. A fall could seriously set back King's recovery, so he and his wife had to discuss the possibility of moving.

The Kings had lived in the house since 1972, and giving it up would be hard. But it also might be fun to find a new place to live, somewhere closer to their children and friends.

They decided to move to Lake Madison on the east side of the state. Since that decision, they have been packing and making a series of arrangements for the big move.

In the meantime, King has recovered the use of his legs, arm and hand. His fine motor skills still cause some problems and he still doesn't drive, but his therapists look for King to overcome those issues, too.

Soon the Kings will close up their old house, send the keys to the new owners and set off for a new time zone. But it isn't the end of their life in Rapid City, just the beginning of a new chapter.

"There have been a lot of life changes," King said. "We've been able to cope with all of them."

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com