Phil Lesh: Vampire????
The doctor back home in California thought the best thing to do with Phil Lesh's prostate issue was watch and wait.
Lesh thought that was a fine idea, except for the part about it being slow, stupid and pointless. So the founding and only bass player for the Grateful Dead made haste for Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where he had surgery last Tuesday at the increasingly legendary Vattikuti Urology Institute.
More than 2,700 other men have had their cancerous prostates robotically removed at Vattikuti since 2001, and it's sort of like million-dollar lottery winners: After the first few, everyone stopped paying attention.
What makes Lesh noteworthy, aside from his resume, is that he's celebrating the occasion by putting a bounty on blood donations. Give a pint by the end of the year, let him know about it, and his nonprofit will donate $10 to Vattikuti.
Lesh, 66, has been a big booster for organ donation since he received an aftermarket liver in 1998. After racking up more Frequent Transfusion Points at Henry Ford, he has widened his scope.
"Holidays are the worst time of year for blood donations," he pointed out, but the need for blood doesn't go away just because everybody who's not on a gurney is at the mall...
... His prostate's musical career is over, but the rest of him doesn't expect to miss any performances, and he is looking forward to writing as much as $50,000 worth of checks to Vattikuti through the Unbroken Chain Foundation. After you offload a pint, simply send an e-mail to donor@phillesh.net, put "I Gave Blood" in the subject line, and give your name, blood bank name, city and state (you can also let Phil know you heard about it from Sunshine Daydream on WTJU!).
You can donate blood in the Charlottesville area at the Red Cross on Rose Hill Drive, or through Virginia Blood Services on Hydraulic Road or the UVA Medical Center.
posted by Kemp at 11:08 AM
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