Charlie Daniels

Yesterday, I got news that my friend Homer was in the hospital. He had been there for a week, experiencing "a great deal of weakness and joint pain following a prep for a lower gi barium test" his son told me. He had just been moved from the hospital to a nearby rehab center. I called his room twice but got no answer.

Today, I got news that another friend, Butch, was taken to the hospital this morning. He was suffering from internal bleeding. This didn't surprise me, because I knew he was on meds that affected his blood platelets. They're the stuff in our blood that causes it to clot. Without sufficient platelets in our blood, we would bleed to death. The last word I received is that he is in the Critical Care Unit. 

I and many of my of friends are at the age where anything could happen. I'm older than Butch and younger than Homer. So far, I feel okay. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be okay for a while longer. But I've got a-fib (atrial fibrillation), an irregular heartbeat that can cause a stroke. I'm taking two meds to help with that, but my doctor wants me to take a blood thinner. So far, I've refused. All meds can have negative side effects, and a blood thinner can lead to a "brain bleed"—a hemorrhagic stroke that can't be stopped. That's what happened to Charlie Daniels, that great fiddle player and leader of the Charlie Daniels Band. He was taking a blood thinner when he developed a brain bleed, and by the time they got him to the hospital and gave him an antidote to the blood thinner, he was dead. A powerful medicine is a double-edged sword. It can save you and it can kill you.

I've got my fingers crossed that my friends will be okay. Meanwhile, for those of you who never experienced Charlie Daniels' fiddle-playing, here's Charlie and his band performing The Devil Went Down to Georgia live at The Grand Ole Opry. Enjoy!