{"id":4634,"date":"2024-04-09T10:57:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T14:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4634"},"modified":"2024-04-09T12:34:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T16:34:53","slug":"zac-brown-bands-john-driskell-hopkins-says-he-visited-three-neurologists-before-als-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/04\/zac-brown-bands-john-driskell-hopkins-says-he-visited-three-neurologists-before-als-diagnosis.html","title":{"rendered":"Zac Brown Band’s John Driskell Hopkins Says He Visited Three Neurologists Before ALS Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jim Greenhill \/ Flickr | Inset: CBS This Morning \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John Driskell Hopkins is a founding member of the\u00a0Zac Brown Band, and while he still dedicates time to performing with the country group, he’s also dedicated to raising awareness and funds for ALS.<\/p>\n

The musician was diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2021. In addition to sharing updates about his condition, Hopkins shared with Fox News Digital that he had seen different neurologists before the disease was finally discovered. He said, “I told the guys back in 2019 that there was something wrong with me, like before COVID. My bluegrass hand was, this hand was still doing great, and this hand was slowing down. And throughout COVID, I played gigs in cul-de-sacs and private homes and back porches, and I noticed a little bit, but it wasn’t until we got back out in the fall of ’21 that I really noticed changes, you know, above and beyond just me not being able to\u00a0keep up with bluegrass.”<\/p>\n

He continued, “It was more like, I was laughing on stage, and my legs were locking up, you know, that kind of thing \u2026 when you have this emotional reaction, your body will tense up, and other things.” Hopkins said that one theory was that cholesterol drugs he’d begun taking had caused these symptoms. Another was that he had “some sort of head injury,” but that didn’t necessarily make sense to him because although he remembered having “knocked [his] head around a little bit” in the past, it was never hard enough to cause that sort of damage.<\/p>\n

Hopkins shared, “It wasn’t until two neurologists missed it that we landed on the third and got the diagnosis.\u201d “Honest to God, I’m just grateful to be sitting here talking to you two years later, almost two and a half years later, and not be in a wheelchair,” he admitted. The musician does struggle with certain things. His voice is affected by the disease, as is his balance. He isn’t able to move his fingers as quickly as he used to, but for the most part, his\u00a0ALS is progressing\u00a0“very slowly and very evenly.” When asked how he was feeling, Hopkins jokingly exclaimed, “Crap!” He then elaborated that “it’s difficult to approach every day jovial and excited. You have to continue to work on keeping a positive attitude and not let the demons creep in.”<\/p>\n