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CD reflects London Symphony Orchestra principal's brain tumour drama |
May 8, 2003 | |||
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Rod Franks, Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra, has released a new solo CD for charity, following his dramatic encounter with serious illness. Read on for CD details, USA and international availability and stockists, and the story, by Rod's daughter Rebecca, of her father's illness and recovery. Rod Franks, 'Saving Face'. Rod Franks writes: Album details (Doyen press release): My name is Rebecca Franks. I am a 20 year old physiotherapy student from Hertfordshire and the daughter of Dot and Rod Franks, my father being the Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra. At the beginning of this year my father began complaining of diminished hearing in his right ear. He thought nothing of this, putting it down to having had a cold virus at Christmas time, although the family and members of the orchestra put this down to selective hearing! However, by May the problem was still there and his hearing in that ear was getting worse so he decided to visit our family GP, Dr Anthony Davies (who ironically is also a trumpet player). He was immediately referred for tests at the BUPA hospital in Harpenden, Hertfordshire under Mr David Johnston. He then went for an MRI brain scan which revealed a 3cm benign tumour, known as an 'Acoustic Neuroma'. This tumour was causing the reduced and distorted hearing my father was experiencing in his right ear (and for him to wrongly accuse the LSO trombones of being out of tune, for which he now apologises!). Mr Johnston referred my father to Professor Michael Gleeson at the Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, who warned him that removal of the tumour might result in him suffering from a facial palsy on the right hand side of his face, leaving him unable to play the trumpet. If he did not have the tumour removed it would continue to grow and become terminal. On the 12th July this year my father underwent surgery to remove the tumour at King's College Hospital, London. The operation was carried out by Professor Gleeson and neurosurgeon Mr Nick Thomas. When he was brought up to his room after coming round from five and a half hours of surgery, I was waiting for him. I did not get a 'Hello Bex!' as I was expecting but 'Look at this!' only to see him purse his lips into an embouchure and blow a raspberry! I have never felt so relieved. He recovered very quickly under the care of the staff on the Guthrie Ward, and sends many thanks to the nurses who looked after him so well. He was only in hospital for four days instead of the predicted two weeks, his recovery was so fast. Maurice Murphy, Principal Trumpet LSO, who has been of utmost help and strength to the whole family throughout the summer, drove my father home from the hospital. One consequence of the tumour being removed was that his balance had been disturbed, so he was very unsteady on his feet as he got out of the car and walked to the house yet so very happy to be home. The other major consequence of the operation was that he permanently lost all hearing in his right ear because of the way that the tumour was removed - something that over the next few months was to worry him greatly. He was told not to attempt to play the trumpet for a fortnight, to allow the pressure in his brain to return to normal. Our house was extremely silent without the sound of brass, as my brother and I had also unconsciously refrained from playing our trumpets. Every day, he practiced making an embouchure and saying to us 'Look! Look! It's OK isn't it?'. One morning two weeks later, nearly to the day that he could begin playing again, I came downstairs to see him sitting in the living room just staring at the TV. He turned to look at me and as he did so I noticed a distinctive droop on the right side of his mouth and his right eye not blinking at the same time as the other one whilst he began telling me that he had taken a sip of his tea and it had not stayed in his mouth but had dribbled all down the front of his top. I immediately contacted the hospital and Professor Gleeson. My father had developed a delayed facial palsy on the right hand side of his face. He was put on steroid tablets in order to attempt to halt and reverse the palsy. He was distraught that this was to signal the end of his playing career. A month later, the palsy began to disappear very gradually. The family could see him improving day by day as his eyes began to blink at the same time and the droop by his mouth was alleviating. One day he left the dinner table and returned with his trumpet. 'I reckon I can play today,' he announced, picked up the trumpet and played a middle G whilst my mum burst into tears of joy. He was overjoyed to be able to play a few notes at first but became increasingly frustrated that his range and quality of sound was not coming back as quickly as he had hoped and that he became tired very quickly when playing. However, over the next few weeks as the palsy wore off, he improved dramatically and our household became noisy again as my brother and I played duets with him. In order for him to get used to being deaf in one ear in a musical capacity, he came to several Hertfordshire County Youth Brass Band rehearsals with me. He complained that everything was too loud in the left ear and could not hear himself playing and did not even know if he was in tune or even playing at the right pitch. At the end of September and beginning of October, he went into London alone as his balance was much improved (partly due to the fact that I made him do balance exercises everyday, much to his annoyance at the time because it made him feel sick) and did two rehearsals and a concert with the LSO. He came home after the first rehearsal disheartened because he could not hear what was going on around him. After the second rehearsal and concert, however, he found that his hearing had settled down and he was managing to hear better. Rod has now returned to work and is playing as well as ever, with the use of a digital cross-over hearing aid which transmits sound from his deaf side into the good ear so he can hear sound from all directions. He would like to send his thanks to his family and friends who have all been so supportive, to his colleagues, especially Maurice Murphy and Jimmy Watson for taking him out on trips and keeping up his spirits, and to Michael Gleeson and Nick Thomas and all their staff for the tremendous job that they did. Rod Franks, 'Saving Face'. Mail order: Tel: 020 7367 6580 - FREEPOST within UK Available online (UK and international) from World of Brass By post/fax/email: US Stockists: Bernel Music - David McDaniel Tap Music Sales - Charles Clements Otter Distributors - Adele & Danny Beher Dillon Music - Jay Shanman Sunshine Brass - Rick Perez Shattinger Music Company - Cory Cullen Websites:
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