{"id":21336,"date":"2019-04-11T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=21336"},"modified":"2019-04-11T11:26:07","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T16:26:07","slug":"big-john-howell-health-scare-alarms-wls-listeners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2019\/04\/11\/big-john-howell-health-scare-alarms-wls-listeners\/","title":{"rendered":"Big John Howell health scare alarms WLS listeners"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Big John Howell<\/p><\/div>\n

Chicago radio talk show host Big John Howell said he plans to see a neurologist after a health scare on the air took him by surprise and alarmed many of his co-workers and listeners.<\/p>\n

Howell, 58, was nearing the end of Tuesday\u2019s show on Cumulus Media news\/talk WLS 890-AM<\/a> when he suddenly sounded disoriented and distressed. Listeners heard him struggle to connect his thoughts or read the copy in front of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could not speak,\u201d said Howell, whose show airs from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. \u201cI looked down at my copy \u2014 we were talking about Alec Baldwin \u2014 but I couldn\u2019t read the word \u2018actor.\u2019 It was just a mess. I realized I was in trouble, and I thought: \u2018Well, I\u2019ve only got 90 seconds to go, two minutes to go, I\u2019ll just kind of get through this [and] we\u2019ll figure it out.\u2019\"<\/p>\n

Howell initially attributed the problem to a combination of low blood sugar caused by diabetes, a reaction to antibiotics he\u2019s taking for a foot infection, and \u201ca continuing issue with migraines\u201d that affect his vision. He also noted that he hadn\u2019t eaten anything since earlier in the day and was not wearing his reading glasses while under the bright lights of the studio.<\/p>\n

After the show ended, Howell said he rested briefly in his office and checked his blood pressure and blood sugar levels, which were normal. Then he drove himself home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cListeners sent me a lot of emails, a lot of text messages, a lot of stuff on Facebook, a lot of Twitter messages. Thank you very much. It\u2019s sweet of you to care. I really appreciate it.\u201d Howell said he also received numerous calls of concern from co-workers and station management.<\/p>\n

Back on the air Wednesday, Howell said he was feeling better but promised to make an appointment with a neurologist. \u201cI\u2019ve made it through two hours without a relapse . . . so I think everything\u2019s OK. We shall see. I\u2019ll follow up as warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 31-year veteran of Chicago radio, Howell\u00a0joined <\/a>WLS as morning personality in 2015. He shifted to early evenings in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago radio talk show host Big John Howell said he plans to see a neurologist after a health scare on the air took him by surprise and alarmed many of his co-workers and listeners. Howell, 58, was nearing the end of Tuesday\u2019s show on Cumulus Media news\/talk WLS 890-AM when he suddenly sounded disoriented and... 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\/21336"}],"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=21336"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21342,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336\/revisions\/21342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}