[joe-frank-list] Joe's Illness

[Harold Johnson]

Hi Levent,

I can only speak for myself - no, I haven't received this news.  This
is the first I've learned of the specifics of Joe's state of
health/his forthcoming work.  I'm glad to hear about the new radio
series - thanks for sharing that.

Sincerely,
Harold J. Johnson

On 6/28/05, Levent <ghastly_fop at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Yeah?  Ok, well I'll post something.  While my inbox
> has been flooded with this breathtakingly fascinating
> message-trimming discussion, people seem to have
> ignored the news about Joe Frank's state of health and
> forthcoming work.  Am I the only one who received
> this?  I'll paste it below.
> 
> Oh, but never mind, the message trimming thing is far
> more interesting.
> 
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has written Joe wishing him
> well over the past few months. Here's (briefly) what
> happened:
> 
> In mid-January, Joe was laid up, unable to walk.
> Medication he was taking led to internal bleeding and
> a week (February 18-25) at St. John's Hospital in
> Santa Monica.
> 
> Then, in the early morning hours of April 5th, Joe
> experienced severe abdominal pain. His girlfriend
> drove him to the emergency room where, after a battery
> of diagnostic tests, Joe was told he had experienced
> sudden, irreversible kidney failure (Joe lost his
> other kidney in 1991).
> 
> After three weeks in the hospital, where he began
> dialysis treatments, Joe returned home. He now goes
> for dialysis three times a week.
> 
> The ordeal was initially shocking and overwhelming.
> Joe lost the stamina and motivation to work. In time,
> though, he began to keep a journal and to record phone
> conversations with his radio collaborators.
> 
> With this material, Joe is now in the process of
> creating a new radio series based on his experience
> called, "The Santa Monica Book of the Dead."
> 
> Since early April, we have committed our time to
> helping Joe with his personal affairs and have not had
> a chance to add new Premium content. We are grateful
> to the loyal and committed Members of JoeFrank.com.
> Because of you, we will be able to upload new Premium
> content (in addition to Joe's new series), and
> continue to keep all of the archived shows available
> for all Premium Members.
> 
> Later this week, Premium Members will be able to see
> two highly produced comic Joe Frank films (which
> appeared in his live performances in Chicago and San
> Francisco) plus a few other items we will upload. And
> we'll move quickly ahead implementing our plan to
> improve the site, offer downloads, T-shirts, and more.
> 
> Keep checking www.joefrank.com for updates and we'll
> send a Newsletter out announcing the first installment
> of Joe's new series.
> 
> Thanks again for your continued support,
> 
> The Joe Frank Team