Hospital Gowns,
Hydrocodone, and a
Haircut
Kirk Talley
Dec 14, 2006
Hello Krew
I thought I should update you as
to my whereabouts the last two
weeks. Many of you have asked
how I handled the back pain on
my recent trip. Well.... I
handled it ...highly medicated!
Before I left, my doctor
prescribed two different types
of pain medication, an anti
inflammatory, and a muscle
relaxer. As I left town, I knew
I was going to be well
acquainted with the pain pills
before I got home. The pain was
horrible. It was running all the
way down to my foot in my right
leg.
Friday night, I sang in
Atlanta, Texas for the
towns annual Christmas Kickoff
Concert. Charles Lawrence heads
this up and many of the towns
businesses donate gifts to be
given away. After several songs,
Charles enlisted me to help him
with the drawing of winners
names. I had already told the
audience that I wasn't going to
be responsible for what I said
because I was heavily medicated!
I briefly told them about the
back pain and the problems I was
having. They seemed to take it
all in stride. When we started
giving the door prizes away, the
fun started. There was one
particular lady who accepted a
prize for a winner that had
already left the concert. I
started in on her, asking her
for ID, trying my best to pick
at her and get her to laugh.
Well she was a good sport and
played along with me. After she
picked up the gift, I decided
she was going to be my target
all night. What a great lady.
She played along with every
zinger that I threw her way. She
was great. The audience loved
the banter of fun back and
forth. Charles Lawrence was just
laughing and shaking his head.
Saturday night in Ft Worth, I
had a great time too. I sang
with the Dixie Melody Boys, and
it was great to see Ed O'Neil
and his quartet again. Ed had a
lot of new members in the group
and I do believe it was the best
group I have heard Ed put
together in a long long time. Ed
was so nice to me and I
appreciate the time I got to
talk to him. Jeanne Smith put
together a great Christmas
Banquet and a wonderful meal.
There were extra deserts, so I
really enjoyed the strawberry
swirl cheesecake from several
tables! Georgia Miller brought
the best brownies this side of
heaven! They fit nicely in my
suitcase!
Sunday I enjoyed a good old
fashioned lunch at My Daughters
Diner with my friend Phil, who
used to travel with Anthony
Burger. Sunday night I attended
a wonderful Christmas Concert
downtown at an auditorium. Still
highly medicated and still in
pain, sometimes it was hard to
sit in one place for long, but I
just kept taking pain pills and
enjoying life!
I went to
FL and had three great
concerts with Dave Edwards and
the Breakfast Club folks. Every
morning I would sing for the
Breakfast club and then have the
afternoon and evenings off. But
every day, I would
head back to the hotel, and lay
on ice packs to try and get some
relief from the pain. Most of
those days, my right leg would
get numb and then ache all the
way down into my foot. But under
the influence of tramadol and
hydrocodone, I floated along as
I lay on ice packs every day. It
was great to great to sing with
the Rick Webb Trio. They are a
great trio and very sweet
people. They performed every
morning in Victorian costumes
which really set the stage for a
real Christmas celebration.
Their new soprano is a dynamic
singer, Lyn Westeffer. I met her
years ago when I sang back up on
a few songs on a solo project
she was doing. Every morning I
would explain to the audience
that I was "highly medicated" so
they shouldn't be shocked at
anything I said. Every morning,
the concert was a lot of fun.
One morning, I even offered a
hydrocodone with every
sweatshirt purchased!
I made it home from Florida and
limped thru the weekend, still
on the pain pills. My MRI was
scheduled for Tuesday. Tuesday
morning of this week, I got up
and went to physical therapy,
the chiropractor, my doctors
office for a valium shot, so
that I could endure the MRI. No
one told me that I shouldn't
take the valium shot and the
pain pills too.......so......of
course I didn't care at that
point. The pain was so intense,
I would have taken anything! By
the time I got back into the
room where they did the MRI, I
couldn't have told you my name!
I knew I was in that waiting
room, but I didn't feel a thing.
The girl handed me one of those
little flimsy hospital gowns and
told me to put it on. That's
when I started to laugh. So she
handed me the second one. I
wasn't real sure of how they
were supposed to be worn so I
just tied them on somehow and
walked out of the changing room.
The woman started laughing and
said "Did you have a Valium
before you came here? I replied
with "I might have" She then
preceded to lay me down on the
MRI table and away we went.
After 45 minutes of la la land
inside the tunnel, they brought
me out and told me to get
dressed. I finally figured out
how to get the gowns off and got
dressed. I got a ride back to my
car but decided I probably
shouldn't drive just yet. So I
walked into a barber shop nearby
and said "Cut it short". The
lady kept asking me questions
about how I wanted it cut, but I
was out of it and just kept
saying "whatever you want to
do". Needless to say, I was
surprised when the Valium wore
off. I now have an interesting
haircut! My advice would be
NEVER GET A HAIRCUT UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF VALIUM.
The MRI showed that my L5 disk
is paper thin and my L4 disk is
pushing against the sciatica
nerve, thus causing the pain
down into my right leg and foot.
As of today, I haven't been told
what they recommend. My doctor
and my Chiropractor are working
together to get me into see a
neurologist and then they will
give me their recommendation
after viewing the film from the
MRI.
I hope my friends will pray for
me. Some days the pain is almost
unbearable. Since I am not
scheduled to sing again until
New Years Eve, I am taking it
easy and trying to not do a lot
during the Christmas Break. Many
of you have already been praying
and I really do appreciate that.
And thank you for praying for my
mom too. And thank you for
praying about the sale of the
Auto Lube. We had a contract on
it and it was set to close this
month, but that contract fell
through so we are back to square
one. This news came while I was
in Florida on an ice pack,
needless to say, it wasn't a
good day. I really do need a
miracle buyer for that business.
And if you have looked at the
January schedule, you will see
that there are only a few dates
on the books. Please pray for
some more dates in January. I am
confident that God will supply
all the needs but I know he does
that through his people so I am
hoping that there will be some
of you who will want to have a
concert at your church.
ONE DAY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - free
Christmas CD or cassette with
any purchase of
1. ABC'S FOR LIFE SWEATSHIRT
or
2. A YEAR IN THE NOW DEVOTIONAL
BOOK
or
3. LIVE AT THE RIVER DVD
THIS SPECIAL IS ONLY GOOD ONE
DAY, tomorrow Friday the 15th)
In order to get the orders
shipped and to you by Christmas,
we have to have the orders by
tomorrow at 4 pm. You must call
the office to get the special.
865 933 2100
Tomorrow is also the last day
that we can guarantee the price
for the cruise. After the 15th,
we still can get you on the boat
but there may be, and there may
not be, a slight price increase.
So if you have been thinking
about the cruise to
Cozumel and the Grand
Caymen Islands Feb 26-March 3,
the information is on the
website,
www.kirktalley.com.
But you need to call Dot at the
office tomorrow to get signed
up.
Let me wish each of you a very
Merry Christmas. I hope everyone
will have the best holiday
season that you have ever had.
Remember Jesus is the Reason for
the Season. I know that slogan
has been used over and over
again but it's the truth. It's
all about Christ the Savior
coming into this world as a
baby, destined to be the King of
Kings, and our sacrifice for
sin. What a wonderful gift to
the world. Let's celebrate this
gift and share the Love of
Christ with all those around us.
