Fall 2008 Update
Thursday October 23,2008
Aloha ~
It's been over a year since we gave you an update. Wow. When Dave first launched this newsletter for us in 2003, it was a daily lifeline to all of you. Sometimes, I even posted twice a day, when the going got rough. Through all the twists and turns of treatment, and then post-treatment, it was the way to stay connected here in cyber-land.
I never would have imagined such a long stretch of time could go by without posting.
The absence of regular updates simply reflects that our lives are no longer centered around Jim's health! He is a walking, talking, working, playing, eating and drinking miracle --- staging a great comeback from stage four to stage zero! Maybe it's more appropriate to say he just exited that cancer stage, with grace and grit!
He still sees the dynamic duo of Chong and Lederer in Honolulu for 6 month check ups, with water bottle at his side ( still very little saliva) - and he keeps our Hilo ENT busy treating sinus and ear infections. We know those will persist because of all the scarring from radiation. But his daily life as Scientist-in-Charge at the Volcano Observatory just keeps on pumping - much like the lava and plume from Kilauea.
We celebrated Jim's 57th birthday and five years in remission this past August. Our friend, nurse Carol, was visiting - and with perfect timing, since she is the one who administered the final dose of chemo up in Tower Seven on the Queen's oncology ward half a decade ago. These days, it's great to see Jim and Carol sharing a liquid other than chemo - drinking beer and laughing together in street clothes, rather than nurse and patient garb.
In fact, it's great to see Jim just being Jim again - as opposed to "the cancer survivor". We spend free time out on our new deck, with our new dogs (Pilialoha and Dex), or working in the newly fenced in yard. New stuff is always exciting - but old friends are the best!
Thanks for checking in - and as always, thanks for all the love and support you send our way. Life continues to be a cabaret, ol chums!
It's been over a year since we gave you an update. Wow. When Dave first launched this newsletter for us in 2003, it was a daily lifeline to all of you. Sometimes, I even posted twice a day, when the going got rough. Through all the twists and turns of treatment, and then post-treatment, it was the way to stay connected here in cyber-land.
I never would have imagined such a long stretch of time could go by without posting.
The absence of regular updates simply reflects that our lives are no longer centered around Jim's health! He is a walking, talking, working, playing, eating and drinking miracle --- staging a great comeback from stage four to stage zero! Maybe it's more appropriate to say he just exited that cancer stage, with grace and grit!
He still sees the dynamic duo of Chong and Lederer in Honolulu for 6 month check ups, with water bottle at his side ( still very little saliva) - and he keeps our Hilo ENT busy treating sinus and ear infections. We know those will persist because of all the scarring from radiation. But his daily life as Scientist-in-Charge at the Volcano Observatory just keeps on pumping - much like the lava and plume from Kilauea.
We celebrated Jim's 57th birthday and five years in remission this past August. Our friend, nurse Carol, was visiting - and with perfect timing, since she is the one who administered the final dose of chemo up in Tower Seven on the Queen's oncology ward half a decade ago. These days, it's great to see Jim and Carol sharing a liquid other than chemo - drinking beer and laughing together in street clothes, rather than nurse and patient garb.
In fact, it's great to see Jim just being Jim again - as opposed to "the cancer survivor". We spend free time out on our new deck, with our new dogs (Pilialoha and Dex), or working in the newly fenced in yard. New stuff is always exciting - but old friends are the best!
Thanks for checking in - and as always, thanks for all the love and support you send our way. Life continues to be a cabaret, ol chums!