Hey everyone!
I don't know if any of you have been keeping up with Lane Baldwin (our own Blues Bass Guru and Lane on Bass) but he's had a rough go of it lately. I'll let him tell it in his own words:
"Hi, Roy, and thanks for the call. I really appreciate your ideas to help the financial situation. Below are some of the bullet points about what's going on. Feel free to share in any way you see fit.
I came down with flu-like symptoms on January 1st. Didn't go to doctor due to lack of insurance.
On the 9th, I gave up and went to ER. Was immediately admitted to hospital with severe diverticulitis, a nasty infection of the lower colon. Doctor told me she was amazed I was still alive, and that had I stayed home even one more day, I probably would have died.
They fought the infection with antibiotics for ten days, but it didn't work. Infection descended into gangrene, at which point there was no choice but to operate.
I flat-lined twice in the hour preceding surgery. Woke up with a colostomy bag on my stomach.
Lived with the bag for three months while I regained enough strength to have it "taken down" and colon reattached. That surgery was on May 1st.
On Friday, the 30th, I had the scare of my life. Seems a small tear had developed at the incision site on the colon and my abdomen had filled up with waste. Friday morning, it all came out the drainage hole near my navel. Back into the hospital for more antibiotics. Doctors are still monitoring that situation, but I'm hopeful the tear is now healed.
What I missed -- I was set to represent Sacramento Blues Society as a solo act in the 2014 International Blues Competition in Memphis at the end of January. As far as anyone can tell, I would have been the first solo bassist to do so... and definitely the first electric bassist - not to mention six strings! LOL
I also missed the planned release of my new CD, along with numerous media and concert appearances scheduled for right after the competition.
While I was able to do a very few gigs here and there, this has made it very difficult to work. And now, I am under VERY strict orders to do NOTHING until doctor pronounces me healed. As of now, I'm being told that won't happen until August at the earliest.
Some friends have set up a GoFundMe drive (see below). Also, for those who prefer to go through PayPal (which takes less per transaction), they can send a donation to me using my main email
lane AT lanebaldwin DOT com. (Best to write it this way so net bots don't pick up my addy for spam.
So... I think that's all of it. Please let me know if you have questions. And thanks again for everything! God bless, and much love!!
http://www.gofundme.com/lanes-expenses
Lane has been a friend to The Learning Dock, Thunder Row, and Teach Me Bass Guitar since it's inception. He's definitely in a spot where he can use our help. To this end, I will be donating all proceeds from the 4th Annual Thunder Row Bass Invitational at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville to Lane's medical expenses and the W. O. Smith Community Music School. Let's help get a good man and great player back from Living the Blues to Playing the Blues!
http://www.gofundme.com/lanes-expenses
This article was originally published in blog:
vBulletin Message