Thanks to all who have prayed and expressed concern and support for my nephew Patrick, whose battle against leukemia I wrote about in February and again in March after his bone-marrow transplant.
I wish I had an encouraging update, but tests this week confirmed that Patrick’s leukemia has relapsed. He and his parents are considering a range of treatment options. He is a brave young man (turns 16 next Thursday) whose good humor in the face of this heartbreaking news had doctors and his parents laughing. We continue to welcome prayers.
It’s been a month of bad news for friends and family with cancer. Chuck Offenburger, who gave me my first job in journalism, was diagnosed this month with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma. Our mutual friend John Carlson wrote about it in Sunday’s Register and Chuck and his wife Carla have both written about it as well. Chuck describes his cancer as advanced but treatable and not aggressive.
Friend Jay Wagner died of cancer July 15. We both worked for the Des Moines Register but our tenures there did not overlap. I met him a few times, though, and he was one of the people I consulted when I was deciding whether to come work for Gazette Communications. I hold Jay up as one of the all-time best Twitterers. He tweeted from prep for his brain surgery and from the recovery room afterward. I wish that surgery had been more successful.
In better cancer news, my brother Dan is recovering well from surgery for prostate cancer. And next month I will celebrate 10 years since successful surgery for colon cancer. I look forward to celebrating Dan’s, Patrick’s and Chuck’s 10th anniversaries. It’s been a tough month, but they are tough people. I remain a cancer optimist.
Our thoughts are with you and your family. My 10-year cancer remission date is next month, as well. A cancer diagnosis is life-changing… no matter how things turn out. Hang in there.
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Thanks, Shannon
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Hello,
Thanks for the interesting article!
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[…] year, an email brought the sad news that Offenburger had non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma, but his emails and blog posts shared his positive outlook and the initially optimistic prognosis […]
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