Philip Chevron takes medical leave from The Pogues

[jennylois]

Same here Philip. And because I live on the other side of the world, if you are ever unable to sleep at night, you can email me for a chat.

[Behan]

Phil, You just keep on fighting! We are all behind you in this, so there's no reason to ever feel alone. That's what's great about the Medusa Fora -- your friends are here 24/7. Phil, I wish you all the best!!

[DCHISHOLM]

Phil, You just keep on fighting! We are all behind you in this, so there's no reason to ever feel alone. That's what's great about the Medusa Fora -- your friends are here 24/7. Phil, I wish you all the best!!

You're the only one that can continue the fight Philip, but Behans message to you does sum up how we are all feeling. We are all here and we are, all of us, your friends and we all hope to see you fit and well in the not to distant future.

[johny red]

Hi Philip,

I am a late commer to this board and have only recently began reading about your battle. I just wanted to say how much your music means to me.
I saw you guys play down in LA. It was wonderful to say the least. My wife complimented Fearnley's mother in law on her purse so she invited us downstairs after the show, needless to say I was ecstatic, and now one of my favorite stories is how i ended up drinking the Pogues beer.

Best wishes and stay strong,

John

[rumsodomyandthelash]

Mr C, i just wanted to let you know that you're in my thoughts and that no Pogues gig will be the same without you , you are a true gent, i really hope you're well enough for Xmas, makes me appreciate my health when i see you're suffering, its so easy to take your health for granted- keep fighting Phil, you can get through this

[Heather]

I too hope you're well enough to perform on the Christmas tour, but as the days and weeks pass, I cannot see it happening.

Take your time, Philip and come back to performing when you're truly ready, not just because we want you too.

Keep fighting we are all behind you.

[RoddyRuddy]

Quote "........ Little things come to matter a great deal - if you only ever eat yoghurt and ice cream [in addition to the feeds administered through pumps], the exact flavour can matter a whole lot, and if you can't get it and have to, as I did today, trek around the West End looking for it or its closest equivalent, further tiring myself out in the process, it can be very morale shaking......" end Quote Philip Cheveron


Not yet posted in this thread yet, [dispite your well being in my thoughts Philip ] as I am allmost certainly to say the wrong thing.
Iam the sort of fool that goes to vist someone hospital only to sit there sad faced saying things like "I hate hospitals , dont you ". Only then remembering how much better I had felt when someone had come to vist me after the operations and said all the right things.

My sister in law has do all shopping on line since a serious illness made it imposible to do other wise.May be a better option than an trek around town. Also has the advantage of freeing up your time to do more important things .


Hope the positive thoughts {even some prayers }from all the Medusans will help keep you strong.Thanks for all the music over the years .

[cutters]

Philip -- My mother is a therapist who, through music, works every day with folks who are experiencing all manner of life's challenges. My brother and I have tormented her with a blaring Pogues soundtrack for the past 20 years. Although unsolicited, I thought I would pass along her thoughts on some strategies for staying connected with your music:

Does the person have any residual hearing? If so, I'm wondering if listening to a boom-box, TV, DVD, etc. w/ high quality earphones would enable him to hear the music/voices. Does he play keyboard by any chance? If so, he could play and listen to the keyboard thru earphones. Drumming might also provide some rhythmic pleasure, physical exercise, and opportunity to express feelings about his cancer, the side- effects of chemo, thoughts about life & death. Drums can be an effective 'tool' for working through a grief process...

Had a couple of additional thoughts about drumming: Drumming enables a hard-of-hearing person to 'feel' the music and to engage in a rhythmic activity. If the person can hear, even just a little, again using the earphones to amplify the sound, he/she could play a drum while listening to music (maybe a video of a concert by favorite musician, orchestra, etc.).

Also, if he/she has a friend or family member who would enjoy
drumming for fun, that would be great, because if recorded music or live music is involved, or not, the hard-of- hearing person can follow the other drummer who can hear until they are in sync w/ each other. Appropriate drums (I'm thinking of ones that are played with the hands, not sticks) would be any that do not have to be held (I'm thinking the person is probably weak from the chemo so a jembe, my favorite, would not
be a good choice because it has to be held in place w/legs or carried by a strap around the neck.). Bongos, tubano, conga drums are free-standing, played w/ the hands, and can be played while sitting down which would probably be an important consideration, as well.

Do you know if he is currently playing w/ the band? If his dimished hearing is making it difficult for him to play in sync w/ the band, there are ways to make that possible for him, i.e. using his other senses, visual and/or touch as a way of playing with the others. It just takes some adaptation on his part and the band's, as well.

All the best!

[philipchevron]

Thanks Cutters, all good advice. I'm also reading Evelyn Glennie's autobiography and Oliver Sacks's Musicophilia. Both helpful in their own ways.

[Eric V]

Philip -- Do you still have no "ring" or any sound? And perhaps more importantly, and what was driving my last PM to you, is there any spread of the cancer? And yes, it is forward of me, but I thought I'd just ask, as many of us nosy people who like you so much want to know... even if it isn't any of our business at the moment.

EV

[Clash Cadillac]

Oliver Sacks's Musicophilia.

Our friend Dr. Harry Lynch just finished this and suggested I read it. It is now on my "to purchase" list.

[philipchevron]

Philip -- Do you still have no "ring" or any sound? And perhaps more importantly, and what was driving my last PM to you, is there any spread of the cancer? And yes, it is forward of me, but I thought I'd just ask, as many of us nosy people who like you so much want to know... even if it isn't any of our business at the moment.

EV

On the cancer, I am not expecting a "prognosis" for a few weeks yet. In any event, it's probably unlikely there's been any spread at this stage. More likely would be the possibility they didn't get it all last time. If that is the case, surgery may be next. You can only have a programme of radiotherapy once in your life, and I think I would eat red hot coals before I submitted myself to Chemotherapy again.

I do have sound. But 90% of the upper frequencies are gone (or the upper frequencies are 90% gone, never quite sure of this) and about 50% of the mids and lows. Modern hearing aids do help, but they take quite a bit of getting used to and there are limits to how they can help, the compensations they can make. The fact that I was already profoundly deaf in my right ear may have put intolerable pressure on the other one after/during the chemotherapy.

I have been examining the possibility of cochlear implants but now I've read Musicophilia (see above), I'm thinking twice about that.

[Eric V]

Thanks for the update Philip.

[Bud Byrne]

Hope you are keeping well Philip. Keep the good side out. Thanks for the update. Always interesting to hear from you.

[Simon Maguire]

Philip -- Do you still have no "ring" or any sound? And perhaps more importantly, and what was driving my last PM to you, is there any spread of the cancer? And yes, it is forward of me, but I thought I'd just ask, as many of us nosy people who like you so much want to know... even if it isn't any of our business at the moment.

EV

On the cancer, I am not expecting a "prognosis" for a few weeks yet. In any event, it's probably unlikely there's been any spread at this stage. More likely would be the possibility they didn't get it all last time. If that is the case, surgery may be next. You can only have a programme of radiotherapy once in your life, and I think I would eat red hot coals before I submitted myself to Chemotherapy again.

I do have sound. But 90% of the upper frequencies are gone (or the upper frequencies are 90% gone, never quite sure of this) and about 50% of the mids and lows. Modern hearing aids do help, but they take quite a bit of getting used to and there are limits to how they can help, the compensations they can make. The fact that I was already profoundly deaf in my right ear may have put intolerable pressure on the other one after/during the chemotherapy.

I have been examining the possibility of cochlear implants but now I've read Musicophilia (see above), I'm thinking twice about that.

Best of luck with that Philip.