The Igg story and Good News!

Some really good news: I am making very good progress! The latest results indicate that I am closer to the end of the treatments – a stem cell transplant followed by remission.
It can all happen in the next 2-3 months. It’s not done until it’s done, and as usual I am optimistic.
Without getting too technical, it’s the Igg story.
Igg is a parameter obtained by a blood test with direct correlation to the status of my cancer. The high number is bad, the low number is good. Normal is 600-1,600. A bad number (very ill patient) is 6,000.
My starting point a year and a half ago was 12,000 !!! With this number I have the “honor” of breaking many records. I recall coming to the first oncologist meeting. The doctor couldn’t believe that I am alive, walking, breathing, driving. When I asked “how bad” they gave me a polite answer.
It was only a few months later when I did my own research that I really understood my bad starting point.

The graph above shows the battle for my life in the past year and a half: from left to right - starting at a very critical number, the ups and downs, slow progress at time, two clinical trials, multiple chemotherapies, and finally getting closer to the finish line.
I owe a lot to the top notch medical team at Dana Farber and especially to my doctor Irene. Taking me from a critical point to where I am today, through the course changes and up and downs, is a great achievement. I told her that when I am done, she’ll write about my case in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and she’ll be very famous.
Let’s not open the champagne yet, and just put it in the fridge.
Within the next 2 months I’ll probably go through the stem cell transplant and then the recovery. My goal is to be back on my feet, healthy and energized by mid-summer.

Now that I gave you the good news and some medical info, I can tell you what happened in the last two months from the last update.
As the numbers get better, the accumulating effects of multiple chemotherapies twice a week take their toll. In spite of feeling lousy with nausea and with all sort of issues, I know that soon it will be over. So a bit more suffering is no big deal.
I manage to work from home and keep myself really busy, trying not to miss ant beat: many activities via conference calls, emails, and talking to customers. Not losing weight is a challenge with the nausea. I simply push it down by eating food. So far so good.
I am still driving back and forth for my treatments. Although I must admit that in the -15C and dark early mornings, it was difficult rolling myself out of bed and telling my auto-pilot to take me the Dana Farber in Boston.
The trick was not to be discouraged even when the results were not so good. This was the real test. I guess with positive attitude, everything is possible. Sadly I see that most of the patients around me (some 20 in the same clinic) are not in a good mental shape. If you let the disease take over, you are done.
In late Feb. my sister Iris and David her husband came from England for a week. It was great to be closer, catch up on a lot of stories, family gossip and do some sight seeing. I wish that our family was closer and not scattered all over between Israel, US, England and Holland.
Two weeks ago our relative in Ottawa, Maurie Karp died of medical complications. I flew to Ottawa for two days to be with Dorothy and the family. Maurie and Dorothy were our closest family during our 4 years in Ottawa, some 30years ago. Maurie was funny, knowledgeable and a good, honest and successful businessman. I recall our many discussions about current events, Israel, the US and many other worldly issues. We’ll all miss him a lot. All the flights and connections were not easy, but I felt that I had to do it.

The pictures below are some of the highlights of what happened in the last two months.
Shoshi and I went to Florida for 4 days with our good friends Galit and Noah. It was a combination of relaxing and a bit of sight seeing in 25C while Boston was freezing and under a pile of snow. We saw beautiful sunsets, powdery sandy beaches, nature reserve with alligators and birds, rode horses and more. Shoshi looks cool on that white horse! This is before she fell of this horse when it started galloping.
In the few family pictures you can see all of us. This is my thing: whenever all of us are together I take many pictures.
We had a small Purim party at home – just our family and Pierre, with costumes and making of Oznei Haman.
Shoshi and I went to the Berkshires in Western MA for a few days vacation. In the area we toured a few art galleries and museums, as you can see in a few pictures.
Dani my friend in Needham is keeping me sharp with clay pigeon shooting. The little orange clay pigeon that I hold is the thing you need to shoot down with a quick reaction.
Dani has the machine that throws the clay pigeons in the air and brings lots of ammunition to have fun at the shooting range. Together with Mark I feel like we are the three musketeers.

This is for now. Due to the faster pace of events I may have to update more frequently, which is a good problem to deal with.

Yours, always optimistic from day-1,
Guy