In a word, Harvey says he is “miserable.”
In our last August 8/17 I reported that while walking downstairs, Harvey fell off the last step and broke bones in his foot and left-hand pinky finger. Harvey blames his continually blurry eyes on the loss of his tear ducts in his last cancer surgery. He says “it’s like crying 24/7” and he needs a very specialized eye doctor to create a solution for the tearing. That and one eye needs cataract surgery. He has an appointment next month with his ophthalmologist and will figure out next steps after that.
But wait, there’s more, damnit… Remember Harvey’s fall, breaking bones in both his foot and pinky finger? Well, Harvey got his finger splint tangled up in his bed sheets Friday morning, pulling the bones out of alignment, and sending him back to the hospital. He has an appointment with an orthopedic hand specialist next week, who may need to freeze Harvey’s hand to realign the bones – the ER doctor wasn’t sure if a re-alignment is needed. This is critical for Harvey as it is keeping him from playing guitar, the only thing he really cares about…
To change the conversation, I asked Harvey about his guitar playing. He said he was probably playing at his best right up to the pandemic. He said he needed to practice every day to keep in shape or his skill level would start to disappear.
Then we talked about his latest recordings and that he created “Smoke This,” a solo record with Harvey writing all the songs and playing all the instruments. He also recorded a new record with his bandmates, which has been recorded, mixed, mastered, and is due out next month. We’ll keep you posted on the release date, and the possibility of a livestream concert in San Francisco later this fall. He also has a show coming up on November 21st with his Chicago Blues Reunion band – he said his finger must be healed so he can play guitar at least by then.
So, Harvey is dealing with his nose, eye, finger, and foot! No wonder he feels miserable. And he’s worried about his ability to pay for the all these new new surgeries, let alone the cancer and nose. Harvey’s GoFundMe is halfway to his goal, so we’re asking everyone to spread the word on his GoFundMe and ask for donations whatever the amount. Here’s the link to share: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-harvey-mandel-kick-cancer
