Neil Diamond & spinal cord tumor

[RobertG]

Just some trivia i learned recently from my mom who is a fan of Neil Diamond. He's the guy who sang the song "Forever in Blue Jeans" in the '70's.

This is info from the Wikipedia website. To find it, scroll down to "Personal Life." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Diamond

"In 1979 Diamond had a tumor surgically removed from his spine and was wheelchair-bound for three months, and had to use a walker, and then a cane, for a long period until finally overcoming these impediments just prior to beginning principal photography for his 1980 film The Jazz Singer.[23] Diamond still suffers from chronic, and often severe, back pain daily"

Do we have any other celebrities?

[linda]

Hey Robert,

I don't know of any other celebrities....yet...but it's nice to know it's not just "us" who are "inflicted".

Does Neil get an invitation to the conference in 2011?? Ha

Thanks to your mom for the info and you too, for posting it.

linda c.

[Linda51]

We do have Reynolds Price. I heard about him 15 years ago when I was at Shands. I read his book "A whole New Life" He does know about the SCTA but doesn't want to partcipate.

~Linda

[betty]

Gee now I feel really special
Ha ha
Be tty

[susan]

I read that the famous golfer Bobby Jones died from syrngomyelia. I thought I saw that he also had a spinal cord tumor, but I only saw one reference to that and I couldn't verify it.

[Todd]

I believe Julio Iglacias had one as a young man. Long before he was ever a singer.

[stevieray]

That is interesting to know. When I first moved to San Diego in 1983 I was an electrician and when we got back to the office we were asked if we wanted to make some extra money and hook up temporary electrical to a couple of trailers back stage at the Sports Arena, and we could watch the concert, Neil Diamand for free. We met him back stage and saw his concert. Fun memory.

[Linda51]

I look up Julio Iglesias and this is what I found.

Background
Julio Iglesias is the eldest son of Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga (from Galicia) and Maria del Rosario de la Cueva y Perignat; Carlos is his younger brother. When the singer was 61 years old, his 89-year-old father sired more children: half brother Jaime (18 May 2004), half-sister Ruth (26 July 2006). Julio's siblings were born of Dr. Iglesias's second marriage to Ronna Keitt.

In the early sixties, when he was a law student in Madrid, he briefly was goalkeeper for one of Real Madrid's youth soccer teams; however, a 22 September 1963 car crash truncated his footballer's career: I had a car accident; very, very strange car accident . . . I lost control of the car, and rolled it, resulting in what they call 'paraparexia', which is not a paraplegi. It's a compression in the [spinal] cord, in the sense of the neck . . . my spinal cord; and I was very, very ill for three years.

His doctors thought he would never walk again, but slowly, he began recovering his health. To develop and increase the dexterity of his hands, he began playing guitar. When recovered of health, he resumed academic studies, and travelled to England to study the English language, first in Ramsgate, then at Bell Educational Trust's Language School in Cambridge.[

[bobmiami]

Linda, Thank you - for the mention of Reynolds Price.

I had to look him up, of course, and get the book, which I just finished.

It is fascinating to see how things worked "back then". As a professor at Duke, he got the "latest and greatest" care (sort of), which did not include MRI's yet, among other things. His NeuroSurgeon was a (then) very young Dr. Alan Friedman. (He dedicates the book to Friedman, among others).

Since he is a religious scholar, it's no surprise that a significant religious thread runs through his book. He threads it well through the tapestry of the story.

It was striking that he considers himself "better off" after the 'Ordeal' of 4 years of pain, surgeries, radiation, and decline into a wheelchair. He's written more prolifickly since.

I'm glad you brought it up, Linda, - The book is inspiring.

[bobmiami]

Reposting for Tyson Johnson, for context. (FYI I have been off the boards for a couple years. My wait and see shows NO CHANGE in my C6/7 since 2007 but I still get an annual MRI just in case.. One NS told me 'I think you will outlive it'. ) Bob