Merle Haggard Back in the Hospital
Merle Haggard has re-entered a Macon, Ga. hospital for additional treatment, his spokesperson said Wednesday.
Haggard's hospital is giving the country music legend a more aggressive antibiotic treatment for pneumonia after he checked himself out too early last week.
Haggard left the hospital Friday to make the drive back to his home in Redding, Calif. on his tour bus, but quickly realized he could not make it.
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In addition to suffering from double pneumonia, Haggard is being treated for other serious ailments.
Although his representative said the pneumonia is "almost completely clear," the singer is now recovering from "three stomach ulcers, the removal of eight polyps from his colon and diverticulitis in his esophagus," all of which were discovered at the Macon hospital.
Haggard will likely be released from the hospital within a week, and his spokesperson said that the 74-year-old will "be back up and running in 30 days."
Upon entering the Georgia hospital for the first time on Tuesday, the singer postponed his performance that day in Macon. Since then, he has postponed the all of his shows scheduled for January.
A cancer survivor, Haggard has part of his lung removed a few years ago.
His music career was kicked off in 1962 when he played bass for a local performer. Five years later he would have his first hit song, "The Fugitive." Other well-known songs include "Working Man Blues" and "Okie From Muskogee."
"Working in Tennessee," Haggard's latest album, was released last year.
Haggard is a Christian who has both written and covered several songs about his relationship with God. In a statement during his cancer recovery, the singer testified to God's power.
"So there is NO misunderstanding, let me testify, the power of the healing our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me. In '08 I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Most everyone knows that's a death sentence! Not in my case," exclaimed the Oklahoma native on his website.
