Robert Wolter to bdmctear

11/3/04

hey brian,

my name’s bob wolter. amy, the social worker at presbyterian gave me your email and i thought i’d write to say hey. i play in a few local bands around town such as the Weeds, the Adrian Mowry band and Redford. i was surprised to find out that you had cf,  even though someone had mentioned to me a while back about “some philly producer” having cf.

my case is pretty mild. i don’t have any digestive problems, but i take anti-biotics all the time and do the vest every day and for the most part am pretty healthy. how are you doing? do you wish they would pass the no-smoking ban in philly too? that, i find, is the biggest obstacle of having cf and being a musician. i listened to some of your mP3’s online and really liked them. i wish i had some stuff online that you could maybe check out, but alas, my bands don’t have websites….yet.

well, i hope things are going well for you and to talk to you soon,

adios,

bob.

Brian McTear to me

11/4/04

Hey Bob!

I am glad Amy gave you my email. My case is mild as well. I am 32 years old, historically my lungs have been very healthy, and my digestion was a little more of a problem, though in the past few years I have become vigilant of both (I started antibiotic treatment for psuedomonis in my late twenties).

Yes, I want them to pass a smoking ban! Do I ever! I just returned from a three week tour of the east coast and some cities in the midwest, and, as always, NY is the greatest pleasure because of its non-smoking bars (as are any of the venues in CA). They all say it is bound to happen, but it is not happening fast enough, as I am sure you would agree.

So what instrument do you play? When will your bands have websites? What venues do you play? I see that the Weeds have played the Unitarian Church. That is a tough show to get for a Philadelphian!

I played crazy avant garde loud noise music for years in my twenties. The music I make now is a sort of “reset button” to start up in a new direction. With two records now, I am ready to move away from the “guy and a guitar” thing. I am really excited to start a third Bitter bitter weeks record.

You should come by and see my studio some day. I run it with my girlfriend Amy, with whom I am also in a band called the Novenas (we are doing a record right now). The studio is a great place. It is big but laid back and comfortable. Lots of cool stuff too. Thanks for the message! Let me know when your bands are playing. I’d love to come out!

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

11/4/04

hey,

i am a drummer! ive been playing since i was 13 or so and haven’t stopped since. i’m 23 by the way…

i think emily (the lead singer of the weeds) will have her site up pretty soon. it’s www.theweedsmusic.org. another band i’m in is shooting ropes, our site just went up the other day, www.shootingropes.org. steph, from stargazer lily is in that band. the other bands i play in are sort of side projects for right now.

i’ve never had any digestive problems, just lung issues, but last february i got a wicked case of pancreatitus which i hope never experience again. is it hard for you do deal with your CF when you go on tour? i’ve never been on the road longer than 2 weeks, and for me it can get a little unnerving.

i would love to check out your studio sometime and hang out. ive never really met anyone with cf before that has shared the same interests as me…anyway, i’ll talk to you later, and lemme know if you’re playing out at all soon…

bob

Brian McTear to me

11/5/04

Pancreatitis…. never had it. Probably don’t want it.

Not to trade horror stories back and forth or anything, but have experienced what they call CF Arthritis? Boy, that hurt. I first came across that when I was 24. It has only happened a handful of times, the last being over two years ago. Every joint in my body flared up. I felt like a 100 year old man. Couldn’t lie down or stand up or move anything without big pain. I really feel like the rest of my life will probably be measured by the quality of the time in between those episodes, ’cause they are hell. But like I said, its been about two, two and a half years, and I don’t feel it coming any time soon.

One recommendation I can make, and it has truly changed my life for the better…  much better, is yoga. Have you ever tried it? It is only helpful if it becomes a regular regimen, and I know it is tough to have more of those than you already have. But it is beautiful. I read in Newsweek a few years back that the average person increases their lung capacity by nearly 10% after two months of yoga…. 10%! It has really helped me. I bought videos, and my girlfriend had taken classes for years so that helps too.

Touring makes me nervous for sure. I was happy to say that I did just fine this last time around. My biggest concern is that if I get congested I won’t be able to sing. It is hard to avoid that if it is going to happen, so I just forgo the crazy hours and long nights. I spend as much time standing outside the bar as I can, away from smoke. I am older, so I always have that as an excuse for being the first to retire for the night. Besides that, I have my digestion to worry about. My thing (on tour) is that I don’t eat a whole lot. I eat just enough, as much vegetarian as possible, so that I don’t feel crappy.

You are lucky that’s not a big issue. I went my whole life til I was 20 not realizing that, in fact, I always felt a little crappy. When I became a vegetarian (which lasted about 7 or 8 years) I learned that there was such a thing as not feeling like shit because of food. I have always been a pretty happy and up beat person (could you imagine recording a record with a guy who’s a total downer?), so that somehow elevated me beyond wallowing in my digestive issues. I have a sister who also has CF. We have the same genes, obviously, but she always got sucked into feeling crappy. She is 21, I think.

So my next show is November 13 at the Balcony, with Julie Doiron. It is a pre-show for Pedro the Lion at the Troc. That night I will also be playing at the Khyber for a benefit for the Sara Weaver Foundation. She was a dear friend… my best friend, really, who died about two years ago from Leukemia. So it will be two shows in one day. I’d love it if you could come out. I won’t be handing you Psuedomonis for the first time, will I? If so, you can wave from across the room.

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

11/6/04

yeah i’ve never let my cf bring me down, either, and i suppose it’s because my family never made a big deal out of it and because i’ve always been a very optimistic person. plus, it’s never stopped me from doing what i want to do, so it’s sort of just a big annoyance. none of my brothers or sisters have cf, but my uncle did. he denied it his whole life, though, and passed away a few years ago.

ive never experienced cf arthritis, but i do have some weird condition where my joints swell up when they get cold. i think i’m allergic to the cold. when i get sick, though, i get hymoptosis, which is when the lining of my lungs wear down and expose an artery, which causes bleeding. apparantly only 1% of people with cf get it. ok, enough horror stories…but talking about it seems cathartic in a way…

sleep is the most important key to my well-being, ive found. if i don’t get enough sleep and i’m running all over the place, it’s almost certain that i’ll get sick. i haven’t tried yoga, but i do ride my bike a whole lot and my pft’s have actually gone up over the past year.

i don’t have any gigs or anything on the 13th so i’ll prolly come out to the khyber and bring some people with me. oh, i have cepacia…do you have it too? if you don’t then i will most definitely be waving at you from across the room. talk to you later…

bob.

Brian McTear to me

11/6/04

What I love about yoga is that it is a series of movements that you make by the power of breathing. So if you are going to lift your arms upward, you do it by deep inhalation. If you are going to do a forward bend from there, you do it by completely exhaling. After about 10 minutes, you will cough up mountains. Gross. After a few weeks, you really do stand more upright, and breath more easily. I am really serious about trying to get the guy whose videos I do to do a video specifically for people with lung conditions. I feel really strongly about it.

I do get the occasional hymoptosis. It will never be easy to get used to. I do not have cepacia, though, so we can wave…. I will keep my psuedomonis and you keep your cepacia. Even if you have psuedomonis, you probably don’t want mine as well.

If you want to come to the Troc show (the early one), let me know. I will put you on the guest list. The later show is a benefit, so I don’t imagine they will have guest lists.

It is really great to have these conversations. To be honest, my sister is the only CF patient I really know. I am game for the carthartic stories for sure.

Thanks

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

11/10/04

hey,

yeah i should definatly try out yoga. my mom and my girlfriend have been trying to get me to do it for a while but i haven’t quite gotten around to it. what are the videos that you use?

have you ever tried taking curcumin? it’s a herb that “scientists” have found to help with digestion for patients w/ cf. i’ve read a few articles on it, chances are you’ve heard about it too.

i was wondering what you do for health insurance…i just recently graduated from college and i’ve been going through this whole ordeal with trying to figure out what to do for insurance. i’m still covered on my parents plan for now, but we’re looking into other options for later on down the road. we looked into medicaid and it was very confusing, still trying to figure it out…

b.w.

Brian McTear to me

11/10/04

I just read about curcumin. Have not tried it. Would like to. Where do I get it? Whole Foods? Do you take enzymes or anything like that?

Insurance… well, i am covered by the PA Dept of Health. It is good in that it covers my medications. But it seems really flimsy. Every year or so HUP calls me to let me know that the telephone numbers no longer work, etc. Very weird. I expect someday that it could be done away with all together. Hopefully I will be a famous rock star by then.

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

11/13/04

you can get curcumin at any health foods store, fresh fields would probably have it. i don’t take any enzymes or anything. i started to when i was diagnosed, when i was 12, but then stopped taking them because i would always forget and then i realized i didn’t have digestion problems…

b.w.

Robert Wolter to Brian

11/15/04

hey,

i’m sorry i didn’t make it to any of your shows saturday…my dad and step-mom had a last minute family emergency of sorts and needed me to babysit for them. (they have three little kids, two boys and a girl, my half bro’s, and sister) i was the last resort. i hope both of them went well, though…a’ight, talk to you later…