This is a little comedy routine which is an imaginary visit to a spooky island oncologist by a Mr. Jim Kauahikaua. It's an MP3 by Mike Helms. The MP3 is over 6MB so it may take up to 20 min to download if you are on a 56k modem. If you don't want to wait just go back

Dr. Frank Dakine

~for room service in paradise meals, Asta, XT, Kim, Leslie and Jackie.
~for Jenda and her homemade squash soup as well as bird feeder hanging services
~for beautiful Big Island anthuriums from Bob K. and his wife
~for the "made it alive" gorgeous orchids from Fran and Jim
~for the most recent package of good Easter cheer, from Kathy C.
~for the silver Mexican bracelet from Julie Mc.
~for love and ongoing support from Lori B.
~for the chimes and sweetness from Kris and Dick

to Debbie, Mick and Bruce for cancer survivor counseling
to Judy F. for being an incredible colleague turned dear friend
to Kim M. and Leslie for more dinner deliveries
to Linda and Rick for undreamed of generosity despite the fact that our situation must be triggering their own grief
 
to Tom and Char for a flying bovine that brought a laugh out loud up from the depths
to Mama Bear for protea that keep on being beautiful
to Fran and Jim for orchids and care packages extraordinaire
to Dachs for weekly doses of Dachliness
to Ruthie and Sarah for hand made cards and pixie dust
to Jan for grass seed science project and aloha wear cards
to Kim T. for caregiver support
to Puppy Child for music to kill cancer by
to Carol and Mike for purple toenails and swimming in the blue, a year ago last week

Once we made the difficult decision to relocate to oahu ( the island of Jim's birth), our friends shifted into high gear to help us find a place to live in Honolulu. Judith Fox Goldstein, forever friend, sent emails to everyone in the western hemisphere and heard back from a very special man named Peter Mouginis-Mark.

Pete is a planetology professor at UH Manoa, has known Jim for many years, and they have occasionally worked together. We talked and Pete told me that he and his wife Ada are currently living in a condo that they wanted to sell so they can make renovations to their new empty home on Round Top Drive. In a gesture of incredible generosity, they offered their home to us for a period of time that will cover most of Jim's treatment. All we have to do is rent furniture and cover the utility bills.

Jim said that it was almost as devastating to think about leaving the Big Island as it was to receive the cancer diagnosis. But once we set foot in Pete and Ada's house, we both knew we had found a place that would be a genuinely healing place to stay. there is a palpable sense of peace and calm in this light-filled, airy home which sits on a peaceful hill on 70,000 year old round top ash and overlooks waikiki and the pacific blue just beyond the buildings. We will never be able to adequately thank Pete and Ada for this blessing.

And since we are here at the blessing portion of this ramble, please know that Jim and i both feel grateful to have each of you in our lives. Thank you for giving of yourselves so completely.

Thank you, thank you
 
~ for packing our stuff up and sending it to us
~ for walking, petting, feeding and surrogate parenting our "girls", Girlie, Gimel and Ernestine.
~ for the prayers you have sent out to us,
~ for noni juice and lettuce, and massages,
~ for the generous donations which go to helping us defer our expenses here - especially to the AAUW women, and to the group that funded our Fed Ex boxes,
~ for the books and videos and dvds,
~ for the shaving of the beard,
~ for the chocolate and cd's and photographs,
~ for the long hugs and understanding looks,
~ for the messages you leave, and the songs you sing to us on voicemail,
~ for celebrating with us when we feel renewed and hopeful, and even more for hanging in there when we are blue and cranky.
~ for the cards you spend your lunch hours buying and writing, for the stamps you put on the colored envelopes that arrive in our mailbox at the bottom of our driveway.
~ for the bamboo ridge babes of Hilo, so consistent in their writerly ways
~ for the flowers that come in baskets and bunches and vases, and brighten up the rooms
~ for the candles that burn bright with hope
~ for the balloons that buoy our spirits
~ for the non-sense games and toys - they make exquisite sense to us, and are healing tools.
~ for the large-as-life lava photos, and for the golden light that Brad pours in every time he writes.
~ for the Ernestine polaroids and lunchtime sagas

I walk down that 50 meter long vertical drop driveway each day. Those of you who have visited us - please tell the others that like my hero dave barry, i am not making this up. It is a daunting driveway. The climate zones differ from top to bottom. Quite possibly the time zones as well.

More often than not, I am rewarded at the bottom with a treasure in the mailbox. You have no idea how you carry me back up that hill. I fly back up with your cards and letters - and frequently i am humming "the wind beneath my wings" how sappy is that?

Before the sap runs too deep here, i'm gonna go. but i'll be back, to try again to express how much we love you. HVO/USGS/Volcano National Park People Jim's colleagues have been incredible. They are better than cross-your-heart bras in terms of being uplilfting and supportive. Long distances are made short by their outpouring of genuine friendship. We lava them!

Jeri's co-workers are great. In her absence, The East Hawaii Big Island staff is covering Jeri's full caseload of special education students in foster care. She knows how busy any given workday can be, and is grateful for the extra time that Sherry and Pauline are putting in, on top of their own heavy loads. Much love to Stan, Kathie, Steve and all the surrogate parents of EPIC.

Carol Lieban presides over a talented group of nurses on Tower Seven. Her adept ways come from her absolutely grounded personality and over 25 years of experience as an oncology nurse.The first time Jim had chemo, six weeks ago, she helped make everything about the experience go smoothly. Even when she wasn't our assigned nurse, Carol has been there to talk with and to intervene when the going gets tough. She is direct, articulate and compassionate, and a patient advocate to the bone . Photo to follow soon.

The other nurses of Tower Seven who have helped us immesurably are June-in-Maroon, Lydia, Willy, Katie the Floater, Sandee, and Noe.

Tower Seven is not just a place that you stay when you are getting cancer treatment, but a place that stays with you. We have at least three more rounds of heavy duty chemo in the next few months, and we are comforted to know that these amazing nurses will be there to help get us through. Although the oncologists are the authors of Jim's treatment plan, and we love and trust them, they are but one part of the team that is helping jim to recovery.

The radiation team and the nurses at Queen's Medical Center are amazing. (We will have some photos up on the website soon.) In particular, our dear friend and nurse Scott Gilbert has been a in every sense you can imagine, the human embodiment of an angel. He appeared on the first day we got to Queen's - he was sent to put in a routine i.v. before Jim's surgery to insert the stomach feeding tube.

We had known Scott and his wife Lori from when they lived on the Big Island years ago. Scott is always a welcome sight, but on February 6th, Jim and i were overjoyed to see him again. Scott is an expert i.v. nurse. A guy who is good with a needle is exactly who you want walking in the room on the first day of a long journey with cancer treatment. But Scott is not just proficient in his work - he is a magnificent human being. There can be a lot of gloom associated with cancer - the "c" word - as people used to say. But when Scott walks in, all gloom vanishes. The light seems brighter, and it feels like there is more oxygen and good stuff to breathe in the air. If we could bottle the essence of Scott, many drug companies would be filing for bankruptcy. Scott is all the good "C" words - caring, conerned, compassionate, cute, courageous, conversationally gifted in that he listens and speaks with equal energy. Scott brings cancer literature, statlocks, extra gauze, better tape which is less irritating to Jim's skin, a whole goodie bag of medical stuff that makes life easier - but most of all he brings himself and his calm, welcome energy whenever he visits, which is often. We are so grateful that he is here.

Dr. Clayton Chong came to see us in the hospital on Thursday night after 6:30 pm. He had begun his day making hospital rounds around 7am, seeing patients in two offices ( Queens and St. Francis hospitals) and still had a meeting to go to after his visit with us. This Clayton guy is so much more than a ton of clay. He takes excellent care of Jim, gives big bear hugs. He even tells us his dreams of an oncology center, and stories about his life. I would hate to add even a minute more of work to his day, but if any of you ever are in need of a medical oncologist...run, do not walk, to his door.

Dr. Lederer was on vacation giving a talk in Canada this week. We missed him and hope he gets some accolades and rest. He deserves both.

We met with James Conant, our dosimetrist - the guy who helps Dr. Lederer figure out the doses of radiation. He is a big man with a big heart - he spent time with us to give an understanding of how complex Jim's radiation plan has been and will be in the next several weeks. We know that both he and Dr. Lederer have worked late nights and weekends to dial up the right stuff to zap the tumors into oblivion. Drs. Clayton Chong and John Lederer are working hard to design and deliver the very best treatment program to cure Jim. They are both highly respected experts in their field and champions in our eyes. I'll try to get photos of them soon. We see them at least once a week to fine-tune this cancer-beating machine.

I was going to tell you that Dr. Chong is Hawaiian-Chinese, and Dr. Lederer is Haole, but it is starting to sound like intros for a Miss Aloha Hawaii contest...

Dr. Chong is the medical oncologist - he drives the chemotherapy, and we can tell he drives a hard bargain with cancer. He comes to see Jim in the hospital frequently during the chemotherapy... and offers us encouragement, new drugs, his time and his akamai ways.

Dr. Lederer is the radiation oncologist and he dials up a mean program of zapping rays. An interesting thing about Dr. Lederer is that he has interns. (who we have dubbed "the ducklings" because they follow him around exactly like baby ducks to their mother) The ducklings have also been very helpful to us.

We love them both. They are honest and direct, and although they are incredibly busy, they always make themselves available when we have questions, which is often.

I can't remember if i wrote this in an earlier website entry, but Jim observed that both of our doctors have the ability to listen and respond to our concerns as if it is the first time they are hearing them...as opposed to the 87th time that day.

We have great confidence in their skills - human and medical.