I remember it well. The knife in the back, the struggle for air, the low grade fever that hung on for weeks. The coughing fits and sleepless hours. The last time this plague was visited upon me, was after a short recording stint at John Kurzweg's legendary Pensacola Street, Kitchen Studio. His place had a penchant for flooding and on more than one occasion, I found him knee deep in water, living his life like a Bangladesh local in typhoon season. Everything he owned was on stilts made of milk crates. The rent was cheap and he wasn't fussy, plus the place was haunted and sounded great. You can't put a price tag on that. The mold from that unholy Petri dish crawled into my Irish lungs, scared and weakened from many a lost bout, with all things bronchial. I went to the doctor, had two courses of steroids, and antibiotics, but I just couldn't shake it. Through it all I had to sing forty songs a night, four nights a week, in the smoke, for my supper.
One blue Monday night, I told (local legend) "Mississippi" James Stanton about my plight and symptoms. He listened and stared through me, as smoke spiraled out of him, like an incense wizard from the seventies. His prescription? Brew and drink a pot of special Red Zinger Tea from the health food store. Take a clove of garlic and quarter it. Swallow it like a pill every six hours, drink the tea, plus a gallon of water. I stunk like a grease trap from a Jamaican restaurant for days. Just like he promised the pleurisy, and the infection it rode in on, left town on a rail. Mississippi James was in my "Hall Of Fame" for life.
This recent thing I had, felt just like that. It has been a two week beat down that keeps re morphing into new forms and tormenting me like a six year old on Cuban coffee. Still, I mustered onto the chariot at the behest of Red Dragon, and sauntered out to Cadillac. It was a great ride and when I got home, ate and passed out, happy to be back...finally. Now it's around one A.M. and the fever has returned. Tomorrow I am going to the New Leaf Market. I am going to call James and have him play the intro to "Gimmie Shelter" while I take the first dose. I need the Voodoo only his stained fingers can provide, while I summon the power of his cure. One of us is going to tap out: me, or the lung funk.
Two will enter, but only one will leave. This time........It's personal.
W.B.Z.N.
11 comments:
you can beat it dude.
Face and Fingers First, take it down like a chimp on Xanax!
James is rather otherworldly, isn't he? Do what he says. I believe I'll send you my chicken soup recipe. I just sent it to another suffering blogger last night.
Hello? It is Spring. Get better immediately.
Take that lung funk down!
Thanks all. After all these meds I'm on, I'll have to do a stint in rehab do beat my depency on abuteral, Prednizone and zirtec.
I'm skeptical. Stealth training seems more logical.
after the ride I have to agree with Jim. WB was kind enough to through in some token coughs when he was bending me over...
Well, all I can say is Spanish and Slade split my lunch money last night. Frog legs gave me the "Gipper" speech on the way back.
Dude, go get a shot in the ass of steriods and old fashioned penicillin then take a 10 day supply of some real high dollar anitbiotics like I did and you will get cured. If the fever came back, you are'nt going to beat the infection with tea. I hate taking antibiotics as much as the rest person actually probably more, but you can only do so much. Not to mention your lungs are going to be tender. I rode hard all weekend long when it was 65 degrees in DC, this morning I was outside in Chicago (22 degrees) and had trouble breathing. I have never had asthma in my life. WB, the main problem I had with my bout (besides the coughs that put me on my knees) was the fever that would come and go. I would feel great for 6 or 7 hours then here comes the chills, the soaking the sheets with sweat and everything. Take the tea, but dude you gotta take meds too. I hope you feel better
ThankS 00. I am over the fever but now I have killer pain in my left upper back and chest (after one hard day, one medium day, and a recovery day of riding) I have been on antibiotics, advair, predizone, plus an inhaler! I think my lungs are swollen. I have one day left of anitboitics. I am in for a long month of recovery. I am going to call the doc today. We are in full allergy mode down here too, which is really SPECIAL!!!
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