ZDogg Goes Country(ish)

I had a roommate back in college who once played a song called “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. Repeatedly. In our tiny, shared room.

“This sucks,” I hissed. “Country music stinks on ice. Now where the heck did I put my Color Me Badd CD?”

Fast forward to 2014. ZDoggMD, the international medical rap superstar and part-time coin collector, plays a fateful gig at the Texas Medical Association in front of thousands of notoriously ornery independent docs. A sitting ovation followed that was loudly punctuated by shouts of approval in the native dialect, like “get a rope!” and so forth.

Just prior to a hasty departure from Dallas-Fort Worth airport, said medical revolutionary was presented with a couple of parting gifts by his hosts: a jet-black cowboy hat, and a stunning new pair of Lucchese leather boots.

“This sucks,” I hissed. “This hat covers my beautiful bald dome, and these boots don’t even have velcro straps.”

Fast forward to later in 2014. ZDoggMD perches in the lobby of his beloved Turntable Health, angrily texting his accountant, when up to the threshold walks Garth Brooks. Apparently he was receiving a walking tour of Downtown Las Vegas from his host, a certain Zappos CEO named Tony Hsieh.

“Can you give Garth a quick one liner on Turntable Health?” asked Mr. Hsieh.

“Oh, sure, we’re trying to fix healthcare by focusing on collaborative prevention utilizing a membership model and a purpose-built EHR with a robust population health back-end.”

Blank look.

“Also, the thunder rolls.”

Blanker look.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Having written the lyrics for a thrombocytopenic parody of “Friends In Low Places”, and having cajoled the legendary Devin Moore of the band Rabbit! to once again help me record my vocals, it was time to shoot the video. That hat and those boots weren’t going to wear themselves, son. And if I didn’t wear them, I’d be letting the entire state of Texas down, to my mortal peril. Who could help me?

Enter the fabled Mrs. Dogg. Turns out she’s got a pretty good eye…for a radiologist. She agreed to film my country shenanigans if I agreed to manage the ZPupps. For a year.

So we shot this past weekend and I hastily edited the CMT-worthy footage and BOOM. In three days, instant Darth Brooks.

So Color Me Badd…er.

Blame it all on my labs


These bruises and scabs


Is it normal to bleed when I floss?


I was the last one to know


What my CBC showed


Why’s my stool look like BBQ sauce?


 

Ain’t got no pcp


So I checked WebMD


And I nearly stroked out as I read


So I went online and googled others to find


This support group instead!


 

Now I’ve got friends with low platelets


Where the nosebleeds flow and prednisone chases


My bruise away…


Is my spleen okay?


Ohhh, I’m not big on thrombopoiesis


Think I’ll skip on down to plasmapheresis


Cause I got friends…with low platelets


 

Now I’ve got friends with low platelets


Where the prednisone causes moon facies


And purple striae


Is my pee ok?


Now my spleen’s big on sequestration


Gonna send it on permanent vacation


‘Cause I gotta end these low platelets