Disappeared

It is with tremendous gratitude and much joy that I can report the pathology results from my recent tests show that my “lymphoma has disappeared.”   As hoped for and expected everything is clear.

The results came to me today, Sunday afternoon, in New Jersey.   We are in the middle of a marathon trip “welcome weekend” for my wife as she prepares to begin her new job as the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Emerson.  She led services, fielded questions, taught religious school, attended meetings, and was honored at a dinner dance Saturday night.  

At the B'nai Israel dinner-dance last night.

Tomorrow she does media interviews and attends more meetings.   All four of us were staying with friends in nearby Teaneck, and we returned “home” Sunday afternoon exhausted – and girding ourselves for more busy days ahead.  We all headed for naps, and when I rose, I picked up a message on my cell phone.  

It was my gastroenterologist.  I had an endoscopy last Tuesday and was scheduled to meet with the oncologist for results on June 3.   The message from my gastroenterologist began “I just received the pathology results, and I felt it warranted a Sunday call.”   This opening, in and of itself, was not necessarily the sunny weekend interruption I was hoping for, but he quickly went on to relay the very good news that the tests were clear and that all evidence of lymphoma has disappeared.

I may get a more complete and nuanced analysis from the oncologist when I see him, but I’m, of course, feeling terrific.  In truth, I feel mostly just confirmed in my own beliefs and expectations.  I would have been surprised to hear anything else. 

So the expectation is that for the next couple of years, I will continue to get periodic endoscopic exams as my condition is monitored.  As we are moving to New Jersey in less than a month, that work is likely to be performed on the east coast.  My California doctors have given me referrals to a local New Jersey general oncologist and an eminent specialist at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC.   I will be well looked-after.

My only concerns over the last couple of months have been the possible effects of the tremendous stress we have been under as we sold our California house, bought a home in New Jersey, said goodbye to friends & colleagues in Los Angeles, and started the multi-faceted process of moving.  Debby’s new congregation seems very warm, welcoming, and tremendously excited to have her there.  I’m not sure yet what I’ll be doing or where my career will take me.  It’s possible the China film I was working on will come back to life.  I’m talking with a university here about teaching as an adjunct in their film program, and I’m in touch with a growing circle of colleagues in New York.  Then again, after our adventures in real estate lately, I’ve thought that that might be a field I could thrive in. 

The new house (cross-your-fingers) on Bennett Rd. in Teaneck, NJ.

We hopefully get to move in sometime in July.

I’m cultivating an openness to new directions, and I am very eager to put my full energy and health into new pursuits.   This may be the last chapter of this particular blog, but I look forward to being in touch and keeping up with you on life’s new adventures.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, warm wishes, and amazing support during this all-but-ended episode.