{"id":1326,"date":"2013-11-21T20:00:14","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T02:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2013-11-21T22:30:50","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T04:30:50","slug":"eric-ferguson-to-have-spinal-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2013\/11\/21\/eric-ferguson-to-have-spinal-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Ferguson to have spinal surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eric<\/a>

<\/a> Eric Ferguson<\/p><\/div>\n

Eric Ferguson, Chicago radio\u2019s biggest star, will undergo elective surgery on his spine Friday to relieve numbness in his arms and hands.<\/p>\n

One-half of the top-rated morning team of Eric & Kathy on WTMX FM 101.9, Ferguson, 46, said he\u2019d been putting off the procedure for years. \u201cIt\u2019s just gotten to a point from a comfort level that I want to get it done and get it over with,\u201d he told me Thursday.<\/p>\n

The surgery to correct spinal stenosis will involve removal of a disk and fusion of vertebrae to relieve pressure on the spinal cord.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want people to worry too much,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cAs far as spine surgeries go, this is considered an easy one \u2014 although no spine surgery is easy, I guess. I\u2019m actually anxious to get it done because I\u2019d like to get the feeling in my hands and arms back to 100 percent and be able to enjoy myself over the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson said he isn\u2019t sure what caused the problem. \u201cIt could have happened 10 years ago in a fall or playing basketball or in a car accident or any number of ways. It\u2019s just been uncomfortable, and my arms have been more numb than usual. So I\u2019ve decided to do it now before we get into the holidays. I\u2019ll be good to go once we get past Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

How soon he\u2019ll return to his show on the Hubbard Broadcasting hot adult-contemporary station \u201cjust kind of depends on how I feel over the weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The spinal issue is unrelated to an earlier health scare that took Ferguson off the air for a while. In 2010 he was hospitalized twice for treatment of an irregular heart rhythm. Both times he underwent catheter ablation procedures to destroy abnormal heart tissue that was causing his cardiac arrhythmia. Doctors gave him a clean bill of health.<\/p>\n

According to the latest Nielsen Audio survey, Ferguson and partner Kathy Hart dominate morning listenership among adults between 25 and 54 with a commanding 10.2 percent share \u2014 double their next closest competitor. They\u2019re in their 18th year together on the Mix.<\/p>\n

In September, Eric & Kathy duo won their industry\u2019s highest honor<\/a> when they were named Major Market Personalities of the Year in the National Association of Broadcasters\u2019 2013 Marconi Radio Awards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Ferguson, Chicago radio\u2019s biggest star, will undergo elective surgery on his spine Friday to relieve numbness in his arms and hands. One-half of the top-rated morning team of Eric & Kathy on WTMX FM 101.9, Ferguson, 46, said he\u2019d been putting off the procedure for years. \u201cIt\u2019s just gotten to a point from a... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1326"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1331,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}