Friends,As we all have, I have been feeling frustrated and even depressed lately with my income down and bills not all getting paid on time, not enough gigs, etc.
Feels like both tires are stuck in quicksand doesn't it?
Then I get this update from a very dear friend's girlfriend in London.
Hi All,
Just to let you know that Terry's doing ok so far. He had a very long(12 hours), difficult and dangerous operation on Tuesday which had to be stopped a couple of times as his blood pressure was out of control and he lost 6 pints of blood.
It looked at one point that they wouldn't be able to remove all of the tumour, but thank God they did, and were able to give him chemo which was applied to the organs directly before putting him back together again.
He was kept on a ventilator in intensive care over night and was woken up at 9am yesterday morning.
He has had a understandably difficult day and night with pain hallucinations (i had 3 hours sleep last night as i had to stay by his bed constantly reassuring him that the blue and red spaceships hovering over the bed were nothing to worry about!) but he's determined to get out of there fast, saying he's bored already!
It'll be a long recovery - apparently the only more major operation than this one is complete organ transfer!
today he had to have another 2 pints of blood and will be kept in intensive care for the time being.
Here's to the surgeon who worked for 9 hours non-stop without having a break, only for a sandwich ('what did he have?' Tel asked when I told him afterwards)
And here's to Terry who's still showing a great sense of humour despite staring death in the face!
Love Fi x
EEEEEEEEEEEEYOW!
This is his SECOND OP for his colo-rectal cancer, he's already had many of his internal organs removed and cemo-bathed and replaced and his rectum removed.
And we think we have problems!!
For those who care Terry is a remarkable guy and one of my favorite friends, a retro MOD who went to school with Paul Weller of the Jam and has written a number of books on British 60's rock, Brian Jones, Ron Wood and other rock and roll subjects. Terry has given me countless great times in London showing me all the British Rock and Roll sites, introducing me to dozens of people and places, hanging out with British rock star geezers, and just being the kind of pal that is hard to find. He has not only arranged gigs and sessions for me there but given me a roof over my head on many occasions. We are both fans of the mid 60's and bonded over our obsession with all of that era. I have shown him the same when he has come to L.A. from the Sunset strip to MoonEyes hot-rod shop and Joshua Tree ("Is this really where Kieth stood in that picture?"). For me it is difficult to imagine a world without this guy.
He has a web site www.terryrawlings.com
Send him some good vibes, love and energy if you can.
-chris