L.A.'s Clan Helps A Friend In Need
By A.J.S. Rayl
USA Today
August 9, 2000
With medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D. A Doctor In Your House.com
When L.A. music store proprietor Fred Walecki needed help after having his voicebox
removed in a total laryngectomy because of a "wild" and rapidly spreading
cancer, he didn't even have a chance to ask.
Unbeknownst to him, just days after his lifesaving operation at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn., last April, Eagle Bernie
Leadon and record producer Glyn Johns were on the phone.
The word went out to 'The Clan' - a group of veteran California musicians who often answer
the call of humanitarian duty. Some Clan members: David Crosby, Graham
Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Emmy Lou Harris, Jackson Browne, Chris
Hillman, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Meisner, Warren Zevon, David
Lindley, Albert Lee, Ethan Johns, and Wix.
To help Walecki offset the six-figure expenses of his treatments - much of which his
insurance did not cover - the plan was to hold a benefit concert or two. On Tuesday and
Wednesday nights at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica,
Calif., the plan
was carried out.
"The reason we're all here is because we love Fred," said Crosby backstage
before the show. "It's no more complex than that."
The nearly four-hour concerts were heartwarming testaments to the notion that what goes
around comes around. "This is just our way of giving back," offered
Nash.
As the owner and operator of Westwood Music in West Los Angeles, Walecki is one of the
premiere unsung heroes in the West Coast music
scene and a friend to every member of The Clan. "He was the fellow who helped all of
us," said former Byrd Chris Hillman.
"He may not be a rock star and might not be well known outside of the
musicians' circle, but Fred Walecki has the distinction of being a very, kind,
kind person," acknowledged Harris.
"Throughout the years, Fred loaned them money and instruments and helped them in a
lot of ways," said Tom Campbell, director of the Guacamole Fund, which promoted the
sold-out shows.
Westwood Music was and still is a home away from home, a place, as Linda Ronstadt
described it, "where we could all go - not only for musical goodies, but also for
encouragement and sound advice."
Laryngeal cancer
About three years ago, Walecki's voice began to turn hoarse and husky and he started
having earaches. He didn't know it then, but those are two major symptoms of cancer of the
larynx.
An organ located in the neck, the larynx has three important functions — control of
the airflow during breathing, protection of the airway, and production of the sound for
speech.
"We don't speak actually with our larynx," explains Dr. Thomas
Calcaterra,
otolaryngologist at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los
Angeles. "The
larynx is primarily a tone generator. We speak with the organs of articulation - the
tongue, lips, palate, etcetera. The larynx provides and generates the tone to create
speech."
At first, after being given some very conservative — and ultimately poor —
advice, Walecki, at the suggestion of his brother-in-law, a physician at the Mayo
Clinic,
headed to Minnesota. There, polyps were discovered and removed from his vocal
cords. The
growths were benign, but he was monitored regularly.
After one trip, Walecki returned home and began taking
S-adenosylmethionine, better known
as Sam-e, a popular over-the-counter amino acid supplement that is said to promote joint
health, mood regulation, and emotional well-being.
"It's very good, but it's a fuel," he recalled learning. "If you've had a
brush with cancer, do not take it, because it fuels the bad stuff as well as the good
stuff."
Walecki now believes his regimen of Sam-e caused the looming cancer to "suddenly
explode."
An estimated 10,000-13,000 new cases of laryngeal cancer will be diagnosed in the USA this
year. The disease will take the lives of a projected 3,500-4,000 people
annually.
Laryngectomy
Though Walecki was advised to get immediate and aggressive radiation, there was confusion
on the part of those to whom he went for treatment. "It wasn't done as quickly or
aggressively as it should have been," he said. "To make a long story short, I
wound up with one of the best guys on the
planet, but by that time the cancer had gone too far."
Walecki's only option was a total laryngectomy, the complete removal of the
voicebox. An
estimated 50,000 people in North America have had this operation, says Frank Morgan of the
International Association of Laryngectomees, based in Newport News, Va. There are now
support groups all across the USA.
"With the total removal of the voicebox, the primary handicap is loss of normal
speech, and that creates the greatest adverse effect on the quality of
life," says Calcaterra. But the good news, he adds, is that "if the cancer is completely removed
- as it usually can be - there is complete eradication and cure and people can go on to
live a full life."
Walecki has recovered and, like many laryngectomees, now speaks with the assistance of an
electrolarynx, a hand-held mechanical device about the size of a small electric
shaver.
The electrolarynx features a vibrating plastic diaphragm that is placed against the
neck.
When a small button is pushed, it causes the diaphragm to vibrate, which, in turn,
produces a vibration in the throat that duplicates the vibration of the vocal
cords.
When he articulates his words with his tongue, palate, throat and lips, the electrolarynx
produces the sound. Although the sound is oddly electronic, it is usually clear and easily
understood.
Showtime
At the show, Walecki opted to take it all in from his seat of honor.
There were plenty of signature hits, and there were songs that, as Crosby noted "you
would know if you were a raving lunatic fan." There were also some surprise
moments.
Actor Jeff Bridges - who along with Bonnie Raitt went to the same high school as Walecki -
picked up a guitar and took the stage for a version of "She Laid Her Whip Down."
And the members of Spinal Tap reunited — still without their own drummer.
The musical highpoint of the night, however, was the reunion of David
Crosby, Chris
Hillman and Roger McGuinn - the remaining members of the legendary Byrds - for "Mr.
Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn, Turn."
As much as the music, the feelings shared throughout the evening were a potent
prescription for healing. After the show, Walecki was ebullient. "How could I not
feel love and support when the greatest musicians on the planet are here for
me?" he asked.
With his electrolarynx, he's back to talking almost non-stop. He harbors no bitterness
about the poor advice and misjudgments made during his bout with the
cancer.
"It was a bad deal," Walecki admitted. "But it's water under the
bridge." He stopped for a moment and reflected, then put his electrolarynx back to
his throat. "When something like this happens, you have a choice. The alternative is
too grim."
Everyone, including his doctors, are marveling at his attitude, another
reason, no doubt,
he has come through his ordeal with flying colors. But some have found the experience a
sobering one.
Feeling vulnerable
As Nash noted: "We are getting to that age of facing our own mortality and it's a
tough thing. The older you get, the more friends you lose, and you start to really
feel like you're vulnerable."
"Then, you have a couple of close brushes of your own," added
Crosby.
"That'll get your attention."
Having undergone a liver transplant several years ago, Crosby knows about those
"close brushes" as well as anyone. So, too, does Hillman, who was waging his own
war against Hepatitis C at the same time Walecki was confronting cancer.
The take-home messages are common sense. "Obviously the key to this is early
discovery," says Calcaterra. "The earlier the cancer, the smaller the
cancer,
and the better the cure rate. We always tell our patients that if they have hoarseness for
more than two weeks that they should have an examination of their throat and larynx."
The other key point, he notes, is that the primary cause of laryngeal cancer is cigarette
smoking. So don't smoke.
"I'm not the only one with this stuff {cancer)," said Walecki. "We need to
get the word out."
Parting thoughts
Everyone throughout the show reiterated the basics: The more informed you are, the
better.
Do your homework. Get your physicals. Know your vulnerabilities. Take care of yourself and
if you get hit, react aggressively. Those moments in life when the meaning of our
existence becomes clear, when the joy of simply being alive billows forth, are rare.
Tuesday night was a bundle of those moments - for the musicians, the fans, the folks
behind the scenes, and especially for Fred Walecki.
"I'm overwhelmed," sighed Walecki after the show. Never one to be at a loss for
words, even he found himself hard-pressed to describe this show of
incredible support. "It's so big, my feelings can only be explained through the
spirit," he said.
Moments later, he added: "Life is about this - family and friends. It is a gift.
Things, I believe, do happen for a reason. I am right there. That's the only place to
be.
And by God's grace, I am here."
