Brett Eldredge Has Emergency Appendectomy on the Road

Brett Eldredge had a rough end to some radio shows recently when he had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Seems Brett started experiencing some major stomach pains during a radio tour in Chicago, and after a day or so of intense pain, he went to a walk-in clinic to see what the problem was and ended up in surgery within just a few hours.

"I was in between shows and got a stomachache one night and thought, 'Man, that's not normal,' and it ended up lasting about two days," Brett tells The Boot. "I had to go do a show, and by the next morning it still hadn't gone away ... it felt like someone punched me in the stomach. So I caught a cab to a walk-in clinic, because I don't live there and don't know any doctors there, and I told them I have this stomachache. And the next thing you know, the doctor orders a CAT scan, and from there I took a cab to the ER and checked myself in to go have my appendix out. I sat there in the waiting room for about two-and-a-half hours before they took me back."

The experience was a bit scary for Brett, being in a strange city far from home. But it wasn't long before his mom was by his side to help him through the surgery. "I got in there and I was worried about the anesthesia because they put it down your vocal cords and I've heard it can mess up your vocal cords, but they did real well for me. I stayed in the hospital for a night and then in downtown Chicago with my mom. She flew in, and I have cousins near there that came and supported me and came to my rescue. I've got a great family!"

Luckily the surgery wasn't too awful, thanks to advances in the procedure. Also, huge sports fan Brett notes that he and an NFL quarterback were both sidelined at the same time with the exact same ailment! "It used to be with appendicitis there was a big giant cut in your stomach and they'd take it out, but these are real little ... I didn't have stitches even. It was laparoscopic, just three little cuts, so they've made it a lot better than it used to be. I hope they don't figure out a use for it someday that they don't know now, cause I'm not gonna get it back. But I think I'm gonna survive! NFL quarterback Matt Cassel got it the day before I got it, and he couldn't play last week, so we were both out on the DL! But I'm getting a lot better. I've sat around impatiently all week at home and tried to recover, and played my guitar and tried not to think about the shows I wasn't able to do and get up onstage and run around, because I very badly wanted to, but that was inevitable. And the radio guys were very understanding about me having to miss them."

Brett is spending the first part of his holidays recuperating with family in St.Louis, including his grandmother, who has Alzheimer's and was the inspiration behind his new single, 'Raymond,' that is currently climbing the charts.