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Why morning star Eric Ferguson feels lucky to be alive
Four months after experiencing a health scare that nearly killed him, Chicago radio morning star Eric Ferguson says his latest checkup showed "everything's great." But he might not have been so lucky if he hadn't acted when he did.
So now the host of the top-rated "Eric & Kathy Show" on Bonneville International hot adult-contemporary WTMX-FM (101.9) is on a mission to encourage others to seek medical care at the first sign of trouble. In an interview Tuesday on WTTW-Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight," Ferguson told Phil Ponce:
"If your body is reacting in a way that isn't normal and that causes you some level of discomfort or some level of concern, it's time to get it checked. Because I was a guy that almost waited too long and ignored it, and thankfully my body sent me a real strong signal that it was time to go in and get it looked at. . . .‚ More often than not, if your body is sending you those signals, there's a reason behind it."
Ferguson, 43, was hospitalized twice earlier this year for treatment of an irregular heart rhythm. In each case, the warning signs were fluttering feelings in his chest and an erratic heart beat. Both times he underwent a catheter ablation procedure to destroy the abnormal heart tissue that apparently was causing his cardiac arrhythmia.
"When you're faced with a life-threatening crisis like I was, and you have to tackle these things head on, you think, 'All right, well how much is this thing going to hurt?' " he told Ponce. "The amazing thing about all this is it was virtually painless. The next day I was up, moving around, walking. I played golf two days afterwards. Felt great."
Three weeks later, Ferguson had to undergo the procedure for a second time, which apparently corrected the problem for good. A final checkup two weeks ago confirmed the good news: "While they can never guarantee anything, [the doctor] said this is the last time that we'll need to see you unless something like this were to come back again. But for all intents and purposes, they gave me a clean bill of health."
Although he still comes off as witty and carefree as ever on The Mix morning show he's hosted for 14 years, there's no doubt that Ferguson has been profoundly affected by the life-and-death ordeal:
"I really thought I would be the last guy in the world to have this happen to them. The interesting thing is a lot of my buddies have said the same thing: 'We thought it would happen to us before it would happen to you.' . . . I've heard from more than a hundred people who've had similar circumstances and who felt the same way I did and said: 'I ignored it. I didn't pay any attention to it.' You can just tell when something's not right. . . . I almost put it off too long. What I'm trying to say to everybody is if you feel that something is not right, you need to go for a checkup -- whether you're a big baby like me or not -- because your body is trying to tell you something."
When it was over, Ferguson said, his wife asked the doctor how close he'd come to dying. "The doctor said: 'He probably had two days. About two more days.' That's a real sobering thing to hear when someone tells you that. . . . Thankfully we got it corrected and fixed, and I'm sitting here today."
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I guess it's mostly "a guy thing" but I also know some women who kept putting it off and they almost died just like Eric almost did.
No, these aren't poor people trying to avoid a couple bucks at the docs office - these men & women are in the wealthy Edgebrook-Sauganash-Wildwood area - but they still decided to roll the dice and ignore the warning signs.
Please allow me to state what is widely known - if it wasn't so serious, it would be almost comical that the one Chicago radio host who is known to be the most heartless individual is the one with heart problems.
Eric would have eternal life if his partner was the semi-lovely Melissa Foreman.
Glad he's alright, but their show is still annoying.
Does this explain the lame billboards: heart problems?
Memo to Garry Meier: ignore the signs, stay away from doctors.
Katie-
It's spelled F O R M A N !
I second Second Chance. Glad Eric is okay...but I would suggest doctors now bring him back to look into the size of his head. Sure it's not fitting through doors these days.
And if I may rephrase a past Feder headline to describe the Eric/Kathy mugging outdoor ads: Worst. Billboard. Ever.
I've never heard Eric or Kathy and wouldn't know them if I fell over them, but Dan Miller is a class act.
Eric and Kathy are a doctor's best friend. They make everyone sick.
Ignore the point of the story at your peril. people.
Get those nasty tests done after age 40 for women and after 50 for men, too. And here's another happy medical tidbit since I'm being so freaking grandfatherly today. My dermatologist told me yesterday he diagnosed six-hundred skin cancers last year. Six-hundred! While most of those were non-life threatening, a skin melanoma can kill you just like any other.
I don't listen to Eric and Kathy either but somebody must. They turned the Mix around in mornings.
With Barney Keefer's help that is.
Wait. What's his name?
Glad Eric's ok - now back to Bob Sirott bashing. You all suckered me in and claimed he was pretty good on WGN doing mornings, but did you hear him today? he was talking about Larry King retiring and mentioned that some of King's interviews are awkward and uncomfortable to watch -- and this is pretty much an exact quote "like when he has on young people like Mick Jagger." fyi Bob, Mick will be turning age 67 next month. (and it was King's Lady Gaga interview that was horrible.) Seriously guys - Sirott???
I guess it's not only tradition every day to ignore the story with a comment that has nothing to do with said story, but, if you're going to comment in this column, either 1 of 3 things is required...
1. Refer to someone, doesn't matter who it is as a "class act". You gotta use those exact words or it won't be effective.
2. Get a mention of the semi-lovely Melissa Forman in there. and why's she only semi-lovely? Give the woman an upgrade to lovely fur cripes sakes!
and 3. get a dig in about how bad Garry Meier is. Nobody knows how bad he really is, so if you keep telling people that, maybe they'll believe you and stop listening.
As for Eric and his heart problems, I'm glad he got them fixed before he died. His show might be annoying, but if you're in your early 40s or approaching them as I am, that's important to think about.
Completed unstated in this post is the fact that Eric's job hours can't be helping his life expectancy at all. It's well-documented that being awake during hours when humans' bodies are intended to be sleeping results in greater stresses to the heart and to the rest of the body. Because he awakens each day at 2AM or 2:30AM or whenever, Eric already is at a far greater risk for heart problems, stroke, diabetes, etc. And now, he's had this great heart trauma. Despite all the money that Eric is raking in, he might want to consider pulling a Spike O'Dell and getting off the merry-go-round while he's still vertical. (Also -- and I don't listen to Eric's show, so I don't know what he says about this -- I sure hope the guy works out regularly -- something more than just playing golf.)
@cj #12 -- you forgot the tired act of using the name of an ex-Cub (or current Cub) ballplayer as a "handle," or calling oneself the Seventh Son of the Seventh Son of Al Lopez. And occasionally, actual Chicago media types (Eric Zorn, Chris Whitehead, and long ago, Bruce Wolf) will comment using their real names.
I'm amazed there's been no mention yet today of Mark Suppelsa and his seminal role (I'm being serious here) on Eric & Kathy. E&K is a female-oriented show, obviously, and Mark Suppelsa is viewed as a dreamboat by Eric and Kathy's target demographic -- women in their 30s, 40s and 50s -- as I know firsthand, with the way my 43-year-old cousin raves about Mark as her ideal match. Hiring Mark was a masterstroke. And Eric & Kathy really, more than anything else, is a triumph of appealing fabulously to your demographic.
I'm convinced the only people that read this blog are frustrated Tribune employees. It's a pretty sad state when Rob has to write about something that aired on TV vs. coming up with original content. Talk about mailing it it. He should have remained retired.
Say what you will about E&K, but it's obvious from their success that they are not a couple of dummies. Both of them are from the area (Eric from Elburn, Kathy I believe from Crystal Lake), so they grew up with Chicago radio and know what has been successful here historically. They've applied the old WGN-esque listener-friendly interactiveness aspect to their show, while also being occasionally slightly off-color and edgy without being dirty and disrespectful so as to not offend their mostly female audience. Mix in a little music to break things up a bit. It's a formula that has worked and worked well for them. They aren't many in Chicago these days that are still earning the big salaries. Then again, there's no accounting for taste these days :-)
J.T.D. III: That was Barry Keefe. He was actually around long before WTMX took over the frequency.
@Saul. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a frustrated Tribune employee. Many employers have frustrated me over the years, but I've never had the chance of adding the Tribune to their number. I just like reading the blog. And I'm glad the semi-lovely -- or even fully lovely -- cj is watching his/her health; cj is right, we all should.
OUCH - why is everyone so angry today?
DB,
Probably the Zambrano complex is spreading around. It is getting pretty catchy lately.
Saul--I've taken shots at Feder in the past, but I have to defend him on your charge (not that he needs my help). When I first read his post this morning, I thought the same thing you did, about him just "covering" something that aired on TV. But then I realized: this is the first time in a *long* time that I can recall that Feder "covered" something that had aired on TV. Rob's working hard to keep this blog interesting with new content and lots of thoughtful pieces. (That said, where Feder *really* mails it in is with his retrospective looks back at his columns from the '80s.) Plus, Eric Ferguson is one of the single most popular (and highest-paid) radio personalities in Chicago; if anything, Ferguson generally has been *under*-covered by Feder since his blog went live.
Oh, and I'm not a frustrated Tribune employee, either. I'm not frustrated (well, except when I realize that Bruce Wolf lacks a regular TV gig), and I'm not an employee of the Tribune (or of any Tribune Co. subsidiary).
@scottbecker#14--Absolutely right. I give all the props in the world to Eric if he had something to do with focusing the laser on the female demo for that show as soon as he arrived and partnered with Kathy. If you listened to her solo show before Eric arrived, you would have poked your ears out with a stick. The brains at The Mix structured and marketed the show perfectly once they teamed up....and since Kathy has no talent, I will always believe she owes 75 percent of her salary back to Eric every day....or should be kissing his feet.
That ALL being said....he's still "Ericgant Ferguson."
cj's post hit the problem's on this blog with laser guided precision.The only question I have is which one of you poster's is the president of the local chapter of the"DEBBIE DOWNER" fan club.
My apologies to all. I hadn't quite come out of my night time medication and I carelessly misspelled the name of the semi-lovely Melissa FORMAN. Nobody except perhaps her agent know how to spell her name quite as well as me. And no, I'm not a frustrated Tribune employee. I don't even read the Tribune since that Mike Royko guy stopped writing for that paper. I usually read the Weekly World News now. And lots of self help blogs.
I used to listen to Eric and Kathy and I do like Eric's brand of humor. I don't think he comes off as arrogant. Kathy is annoying with all her grunts and wierd noises. Melissa is the reason I don't listen anymore. I can't take her dumb woman act (doubt it is an act though). She says "I know" as much as a teenager says "like"! Guess women aged 30-50 like to dumb it down.
Glad Eric caught this in time.
I haven't listened to E & K for years, but I really miss Barry Keefe. I would take BK over Suppelsa any day. He's much smoother, emphasizes the correct syllables and words in a sentence, and oh, that voice! Keefe is a hero, Suppelsa is a uh, uh, uh zero.
To Scott Becker #14- Mark Suppelsa still stinks on the Mix today, which is almost unbelievable given that he's been at it for a few years now, so anyone who finds THAT appealing is reacting to his looks alone. As for that Mark taking over as newsman--the ONLY reason that happened was because his BEST FRIEND Eric GAVE Mark the newsman job that Keefe had held for so long. There's no way that job would have been given to Mark had he not been friends with Eric! Period. Barry was a beloved icon. Mark's just a poser. And Eric's just an arrogant friend to the poser.
To Podunk Princess #25-I wholeheartedly second your opinion. I miss Barry Keefe too.