The AM Forum

Damn! When it rains it pours around this place. I just got off the phone with Joe, N3IBX, he told me he's in the proverbial 'Dent and Fender' shop to get his gall bladder removed. He was somewhat short so I don't have a lot of details. He and I had conversed via email Sat & Sun. and he told me that Frank, 'The Slab Bacon' KB3AHE is back in also. I'll post more details when I get them.

Frank went back in after one of the repairs failed, according to an early readout from his wife Carol this past weekend.
They fixed him up, but he soon again lost blood pressure and nearly collapsed, so the doctors said it's too risky to send him home for now.
She had told me she planned to get him on a list for a liver transplant as the only long-term solution to what's becoming a chronic set of symptoms caused by the non-alcoholic cirrhosis ¹ that he's been suffering from for years.

And yes, Mike, that's awful to now hear Joe's gone in as well. His wife Jocelyn isn't doing well either, so let's get some good Karma going for them all.

---

¹ http://www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/nash/

Dang, bad news travels in Packs... Here's hoping they BOTH make a quick recovery.

OK Joe
You gotta get out of the repair shop....

And Frank,,,the liver is not a good thing to deal with.........We'll be praying for you.

Fred

Good luck Joe!

I had a lap cholie... they throw you out of the hospital the following day.

Hope urs goes well.

Hoping Slab Bacon is coming back soon, ok fine.

              _-_-bear

Man oh man... adding Joe to my prayers and thoughts.  I never worked Frank on the air but I have come to respect the man from his posts here.   Joe I did work a couple of times and I admire his gentlemanly operating style.

You WILL have the opportunity to work both of them again, hopefully many times.

Sorry to hear the news about Joe and Frank.  In e-mailing with Joe, IBX with as recent as yesterday, I had the impression that he just had the Flu.  I also found out about Franks return to the hospital.  Franks a tuff guy and I am sure he will do what's required to get back home as soon as possible. 
Both will certainly be in our prayers.
Joe, W3GMS

Likewise

Wishing Joe and Frank speedy recoveries...

Stu

No one can say Joe has had a lot of gall anyway. One of the nicest guys I've had the pleasure to know.
Get well soon, Joe!!

Best wishes to both of those fine gentlemen.
Carl
/KPD

A speedy recovery for both Joe and Frank.

and praying for a miracle for N3DRB... bad news abounds, it seems.

What a sad day in blackrock :-(  :'(

UPDATE

I just got off the twisted pair with Joe. It seems that his initial diagnosis was incorrect. He told me they said its somekind of pneumonia. Some of his blood work was a little 'fuzzy' but I'm hoping its the result of the meds he is taking. In typical Joe fashion, he said, "Wait a minute Mikey, excuse me miss? Would you like to take this chair? Sorry Mikey, my roommate's daughter was standing and I wanted to make sure she had something to sit on." He told me to say "Hello" to everyone and thanks for all the well wishes.
PM or EM me for some details if you wish.

I talked with our N3IBX last night, and he is doing quite well and in good spirits. He had indicated that he may go home soon. I will be giving him a 'ringy-dingy' tonight to find out what/where he goes next.

Great news! 

Awesome! Joe is one of the AM "characters." I wish he was on the air more.

I just got an e mail from Joe, N3IBX around 9:30 last night and he is now home.  He sounded good in the e mail, if that possible!  Once you know Joe, you can get a feel how he is doing by his e mails.   
Regards,
Joe, W3GMS

GMS Joe said:
Yep you are quite correct. I was going to wait and let Joe announce his return. I talked to him on the phone from his house and he sound quite upbeat.

Hello All,
           I greatly appreciate the concern and posts from everyone, and especially to Mike(y) W3SLK, and Joe W3-Good Music Station for doing the follow up, etc. Your prayers and good "karma" helped spring me from the (as Mike(y) W3SLK says it best) "dent and fender shop" yesterday. I had some ordeal in the horsepistol, but at least I'm feeling a lot better and back home.

I was initially diagnosed with a "hot" gallbladder, but after a series of CAT scans and other tests the Docs discovered I had multi Lowbar Pneumonia. My family Doc put me on a antibiotic regimen called a "Z-Pack" for one week, but after that ran out I still wasn't improving and wound up with a 104 degree fever Monday morning. I went into see her and she had me admitted to my local hospital. After a couple of days on some good eye-vee antibiotics I started to come around. They had to try a few different ones before they found the one(s) that worked. Anyway, I feel much better and have switched to pills to finally eradicate the problem.

Again, I really appreciate the concern and posts of everyone here, and can't thank you enuf! (would a good pair of TZ40's do? - hi hi!)

I'm very concerned about Frank, KB3AHE aka: "Da Slab Bacon wit da big meat shakin" and the Derb, N3DRB. I believe that Frank is home by now and I have to play "ketchup" with him. The last I heard from Frank was via a phonium QSO from my hospital to his hospital. Many thanks to everybody for keeping me in the loop with his situation and Derbs.

It seems that the old adage "when it rains it pours" holds true for some of us East Coast "Miscreants". Thanks to the prayers and good mojo of many here on the board, it's made life a bit more tolerable.

Sincerely Yours and the very best of health!

Joe Cro N3IBX

Welcome back Joe!

Good to see ya posting here again, Joe!

May your signals be strong,
your transmissions be long,
and your reception be static free.

73

Welcome back, Joe. Glad you got through it so well.

I think you and Frank need to issue each other some special commemorative certificates for that rare horsepistol-to-horsepistol AM QSO. A rare one(thankfully), indeed!  ;)

I like it!

Welcome back Joe. You can't keep a good man down!

sometimes I hit resonance ;-)

Todd,
        Good to hear from you OM and hope to modulate the aether with you in the near future! Your old 75A-2A is singing soprano and really performs well. I stuck a "N3IBX poor mans' 12kc+ AM mechanical filter" that consists of a R+C network in the slot next to the REAL COLLINS 3.1kc slopbucket filter and it works real well. Just don't go asking me for brick wall selectivity - hi hi!

Maybe one of these days the mechamical filter fairy will bestow upon me a real 6kc filter with a meatball logo on it - hi!

Yes, Frank and I had a horsepistol to horsepistol QSO via electret be-elemented microphoniums!

Mod-U-later,
                 Joe Cro N3IBX

Yo Steve, U Da man! It's real good to hear from you. It's guys like you, Paul, VJB, Frank, AHE, Mike(y), SLK, "Buddly" etc that keep things going for all of us.

Hope to have a nice OB QSO with you in (BRAAAAAAAaaaapppp) the near future, preferably on 160 metros, like the old days.

Test 123 YUUUUURRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE!

Joe N3IBX

Joe it's real good to see that you're home.

Now get on the air so I don't have to live off the "Best of The Vortex" series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xed2R5kG4

Paul,
That video is a classic!  Thanks for posting it. 

Joe, you need to get back on AM.  Been hearing you on slop bucket way to often lately ;)

Joe, GMS