how's charlie?

[Andrewq]

Thanks for sharing that with us Charlie : will have to think of a way to re-phrase the question if we see you this weekend.
The message from the book seems to be stay focused and positive and you will get through it - and the best is yet to come.
Have a great show on Saturday -we'll be out there.

[Tony Hinnigan]

Thanks, Charlie, for all your help and, re. my recent enquiry, Lucy Duran has given me what looks like a good steer.
Hope you're up and about soon.

[Gordon Neill]

Tony Hinnigan wrote:

Lucy Duran has given me what looks like a good steer.

Are you sure it's not just a large goat?

[Gordon Neill]

Gordon Neill wrote:

Are you sure it's not just a large goat?

Oh, I hope you're feeling better Charlie. Sorry about the goat stuff. Sorry.

[Tom McPhillips]

Lucy Duran has given me what looks like a good steer.

Nothing worse than a bum steer - and isn't that just a lovely goat you're wearing!

[Charlie]

Gordon Neill wrote:Oh, I hope you're feeling better Charlie. Sorry about the goat stuff. Sorry.

Nothing like a good chuckle to make a poorly man feel better.

Nine tenths of me are fine, and my feet aren't as painful as they were.

Having read Ben Watt's book Patient (see review in book section below), I've realised I got let off lightly.

Ben had the condition for months before the experts realised what was wrong with him, and in that time the damage was ongoing, nearly fatal and unbelievabley painful.

Because I was diagnosed within hours of being admitted to hospital, the attack was limited to my feet and there seems a reasonable chance of recovery.

As badly as Ben was hit, he recovered so well he was making records two years later and turning himself into a club DJ after that.

So the signs are hopeful, as I spend most of the day on the sofa with a lap top on my knee.

[Dayna]

It's good to hear you can recover from that.
I have had trouble with allergies all my life. I have been haing a hard time breathing the last couple days with coughing & a sore throat. I'm allergic to chemical fragrances, & other things.

Seeing what you're dealing with makes me realize I can't complain, though.

[Charlie]

email from Alain Fournier in Canada:

Bonjour

I have just bought your "World 2006". It is excellent as your previous 7 world albums ( I included among them your "And the world's all yours" = World 1996, 10 years ago!).

Reading the last issue of Songlines, I was shocked learning that you have to abandon your Saturday broadcast on London 94.9 fm, due to bad health.

I remembered that you mentioned months ago your voice problem on BBCWS! I am very sorry.

May I wish you a prompt retablissement - I forgot the English term, recovery?

Thank you for letting us chart various musical worlds. Your latest on Middle east music was superb.

Merci beaucoup et bonne sante et aussi bien sur bonne chance

[Colin]

I knew Charlie had given up the Saturday night show through ill health, but I've only just caught up with this forum.

I just want to add my voice to the tributes and thanks to Charlie. Saturday evenings just aren't the same!

Charlie has introduced my wife and me to so much music over the years.

One of the most played tapes in our collection is the recording of Kassav playing on Clapham Common in 1987. We watched the concert - which Charlie introduced - and then rushed back to my flat to listen to the broadcast on Charlie's show.

This is one of the pieces of music I would take to a desert island, and for that alone I'm grateful.

Thanks and get well Charlie.

[Andrewq]

Walking. gigging and next Womex : hopefully that means you are on the mend Charlie.
I enjoyed the Sound of the World show on Monday morning ( crazy time) but would prefer it if the announcer did not list the countries on the playlist at the beginning as it rathers spoils the surprise.
You certainly pack a lot into those 27 minutes.

[Charlie]

At the end of the Nick Lowe concert at the RFH, Peter Curran stopped to say hello.

Some will remember Peter from what we now think of as the Golden Era of BBC London, formerly known as GLR. He had a daily show for quite a while and then did the Saturday evening film programme that went out just before mine. Now he's on Loose Ends (as you Radio 4 listeners will know).

Pete was among the select audience at the Kashmir Klub when I celebrated thirty years on the radio with a live show that featured performances by Mariza and this same Nick Lowe.

But Peter and I haven't seen each other for three years at least.

After we'd chatted a bit, he said "I heard you'd been ill" in a rather sceptical tone.

"Yes,'" I said, "but I'm getting better."

"Well if you're expecting any sympathy, you'll have to look a lot worse than that."

What are friends for?

[tulsehill charlie]

Charlie wrote

I spend most of the day on the sofa with a lap top on my knee

Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me
Cause I come from Clapham Common
with my laptop on my knee

(to be continued.......)

[Alan Balfour]

Charlie wrote

I spend most of the day on the sofa with a lap top on my knee

Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me
Cause I come from Clapham Common
with my laptop on my knee

(to be continued.......)

Would you believe it if I said Charlie's eldest is named Suzy? It almost fits the meter of the song.

[Charlie]

Nearly three years since I was temporarily felled by the condition known as Churg Strauss syndrome.

The main treatment was huge doses of steroids which had the immediate effect of blowing me out like a balloon, so much that some people didn't recognise me. The damage was mostly to my feet, and I spent most of the first three months on the sofa. The only comfortable (and recommended) position was to have my feet higher than my heart, but I could actually move around if I had to, so the BBC World Service arranged for cars to pick me up for studio pre-recordings and take me back home afterwards, an arrangement which continues to this day and for which I am very grateful and appreciative. Sitting in the studio with my feet on the table, I was the ultimate in laid-back DJs.

After Andy Kershaw went AWOL and abandoned his spot on Radio 3, I was among several people filling in until a formal rota was established, with the same travel arrangements as described above.

I'm still taking steroids, but in much smaller doses (5 and 7.5 mg on alternate days, for anybody with experience of such things) and also take several other pills designed to protect parts of the body against the side effects of steroids (notably bones and stomach lining). The pain killer Gabapantin numbs the pain in the feet.

Meanwhile I've been fortunate in getting treatment on my feet from the acupuncturist Tai Long, truly a magician with his hands and knowledge. The senior specialist at St Thomas' Hospital has acknowledged the beneficial effect of the acupuncture, which not all such specialists do.

Tai also prescribed Chinese herb treatment to deal with the congestion that was making my voice sound so bad, and once I realised how effective these herbs could be, I put myself in the hands of Yaun Shui at the Green Healer next to Clapham North station. She found the combination of herbs, roots and shoots that keeps me breathing, and adjusts it periodically to deal with any new factors.

One way or another, I'm very lucky to be getting steadily better.

[Alannah]

yay!

glad to hear you're making good progress - long may it continue!