THEY SAY THESE THINGS COME IN THREES.......

.... and the saga continues. So I get out of the hospital a week ago last Friday, take a day of rest, then head out to Muskegon, Michigan (home of the fabulous Michigan Irish Music Festival) to play an afternoon concert for those wonderful folks at the Muskegon Irish American Society. We had a great time, and while my breathing caused me a few problems, nonetheless I had a mighty time and just enjoyed the hell out of myself. After the gig I had dinner with my Mom, sisters, brother, and spouses. As the night progressed, my breathing seemed to progressively get worse, and sleep that night was very difficult. The next morning I called the Doc, he had me come in on Tuesday, after some diagnostics he told me he wanted me to head for the emergency room. After a CT w/dye it was determined that I had pitched some Pulmonary Embolisms and a number of them were on top of my lungs, two of which were of significant size. I was admitted to hospital and spent four days on a Heparin drip. I just got out last night with a prescription for Coumadain. I also have to administer myself four injections a day of injectable Heparin for about a week, and use o2 until my blood ox level gets back to where it should be. The Doc's tell me that the Heparin treatment, combined with the Coumadain, will likely allow my body to re-absorb the clots in 4 to 8 mints. With luck my breathlessness will steadily make improvements during that time. Damn, this crap needs to stop, I have music to make!

A couple of quick points. First, the gig on Sunday didn't cause the problem. The clots were already there. In fact, if anything, the gig likely caused me to seek treatment quicker than I otherwise would have. I likely would have just sat around and hoped it would pass. So to my friends in Muskegon, and my beloved bandmates, put that out of your minds. Second, I am not sure how much music I will be able to play during this St. Pat's season. My goal, at this point, is too play everything we have booked. But I have to be honest, I am not certain if that will be possible. But my bandmates are such a talented bunch that they will cover it in some form. Plus the talented Lexi Schaub, granddaughter of bandmates Mike Scott, will do some songs during some of the lead up gigs. I hope our fans will forgive me if I sit while I play, or take it a bit easy onstage.

All the best,

Mick