Thought this might be of some interest:
Local Guitarist Takes Center Stage For Personal Cause
April 8, 2005
By John Sharify - KOMO TV
SEATTLE - Seattle's Showbox will be rocking Friday night. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready takes center stage in a special concert for his personal cause.
It's something he didn't want to talk about until recently.
McCready suffers from Crohn's Disease. It's a disease that inflames your intestines.
If you have, it you know it -- the excruciating pain, the embarrassment.
"Oh yeah. All of a sudden just playing a lead and getting into it and all of a sudden you're like 'oh oh.' I can't stop and I gotta stay on stage and do my rocking or whatever," McCready said. "Stuff happens, we'll just say that."
Which is why when Mike McCready goes anywhere, he needed to know one thing -- the location of the nearest restroom.
He knows when he's driving around Seattle, where the bathrooms are.
With the medication and a special diet, McCready copes with this potentially debilitating disease. He only started talking about Crohn's and Colitis, three years ago -- with a slight nudge from his fiance.
"It's probably because she's tired of hearing me complaining about it," McCready said. " 'OK, had enough. You need to go talk about this.' "
Mike hopes that if he speaks out, more money will go to research. And that if he speaks out, those who suffer silently will know, they're not alone.
McCready also hopes by speaking out, more research money will be coming in to find a cure.
The benefit concert is Friday night April 7 at 8 o'clock at the Showbox. At last year's benefit show, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder made a surprise appearance.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/36193.htm
For More Information:
The Northwest Chapter of CCFA at 425-451-8455 or visit
www.ccfa.org.
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