In Honor of Jon Jones: Motormags, “Just Wanna Be Loved”
Where to begin…
Jon Jones, the guitar player in the AC/DC shirt, is an old friend of mine going back as far as Tim Kelly. He played in tons of great hardcore bands back in the day (none of who have websites) like Positive Outlook and Step Forward, before moving on to the post-punk Two Guys and Another Guy, followed by the hardest of hard rock bands like Backwash and finally the Motormags. Betcha didn’t know how much quality hardcore and hard rock comes out of the Biggest Little State in the Union (love those accents).
I found out late yesterday that Jon’s in the hospital now with pancreatitis. Part of it is predisposition, part of it is doubtless from years of hard living. No one ever said rock-n-roll is an easy life.
Here’s a summary:
Jon has been in Newport Hospital since Nov. 30 with pancreatitis, a case so severe that he is at risk of dying. In his favor in overcoming the difficult odds are his age – medically young at 38 – and his relatively strong physical condition.He is getting remarkable care.
Since his admission to the intensive care unit, he has been on a respirator and sedated (which helps him tolerate the breathing tube down his throat), receiving dialysis (a treatment in which his blood is
purified because his kidneys aren’t working), liquid food, pain killers, antibiotics, all by intravenous infusion into his blood vessels.Doctors say that Jon can hear sounds of voices and music, although it is difficult to tell what he can process. But we know that it is important for him to hear voices of the people who love him, to feel their touches. A little CD player is broadcasting music he likes (or at least the best guesses).
Every day he continues is a gift, and carries the hope he will come through this. As is common is urgent cases, every day there is also something to worry about, and trouble can come in an instant. During the past few days, there has been concern whether there is an infection at work that the doctors cannot pinpoint, indicated by an increase in white blood cells that the body produces to ward off attacks by bacteria.
But sophisticated CAT scans have not so far found a problem with the pancreas, or anything else, and these are good signs. Also on the plus said is that his lungs and heart are in good shape, and that he looks better.
In terms of how this happened, Jon’s body naturally runs the risk of pancreatitis, an inherited danger. His father had a milder case 30 years ago. Further, Jon’s alcoholism worsened the problem –
it’s a well-known cause.The pancreas is an organ that puts out enzymes or chemicals that help the body digest food. It also makes insulin, which regulates sugar processing by the body. When the pancreas becomes inflamed, its strong chemicals get distributed to other parts of the body, which, in turn, are put under tremendous stress.
To get an idea of how serious this is, one of Jon’s ICU doctors says that if he were a patient in any hospital – large or small – he would be the sickest patient there. And to get an idea of what kind of help he is getting, the Newport ICU is a high level facility, with doctors who are trained as “intensivists,” a relatively new specialty that oversees ICU units. Further, the nurses who are looking after Jon – sometimes on a one-to-one basis – are remarkably skilled, hard-working and dedicated. It is a privilege to see this kind of care being given to Jon.
Because of the intense nature of his treatments, only our immediate family is visiting him at present. But we ask people to keep him in their thoughts. We believe that the accumulation of people’s thoughts and prayers – The Force in one of Jon’s favorite movies, “Star Wars,” is as important as the medical treatment.
Letters and messages are welcome. We read them to him. Also, since music is so important to Jon, copies of music and CDs are welcome.
We live in hope.
Dad
I put this up because I know a bunch of Rhode Islanders of my age and generation read this blog. Jon, like his brother Chris from Verbal Assault, was a hero to a lot of us, and he needs our support right now. Keep Jon and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
