Michael J. Fox / Given To Fly

Probably not worth it's own thread, but I really like Michael J. Fox and was glad to hear Pearl Jam helped relax him before a major operation.


http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20127002,00.html

Last March, two days after taping the season finale—and after first telling his castmates about his disease—Fox headed for the Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass., to undergo a thalamotomy. His neurosurgeon, Bruce Cook, explained the seriousness of the procedure: "I told him that while the success rate was close to 90 percent, there was some horrible risk—like paralysis, coma, death."

Fox was undaunted. He told Cook about the risk he had taken when he dropped out of high school in Vancouver at age 18 and arrived in Hollywood without money or job prospects. "The difference between what I did and what you're doing," Fox told the surgeon, "is that you know what you're doing." Before leaving for Boston, Fox had his most serious talk with Sam. "I had to tell him there was a tiny chance it might not go well," he says. "I talked about neurons and transmitters not working until he had had enough. Then I said, 'You know I'll be okay.' And he said, 'Yeah, I know.' " The night before the surgery, Fox relaxed by listening over and over to "Given to Fly" on Pearl Jam's Yield album. Says Pollan: "I had fears, but he had no question it would be successful. He just said, 'Don't worry. This is going to be great.' "