Richard Venezky

Hi Everyone.

Dad went back into the hospital today with another “inconvenience”. He
has a tumor in his throat that has been diagnosed as a lymphoma (b
cell, I think). He is currently undergoing a large number of tests to
determine more information about the tumor, if there are others, etc.
Both Mom and Dad are in good spirits. We will know more soon both about
the tumor and the suggested treatment. I will send more information
when I receive it.

Please do not call the house or the hospital. It’s going to be a hectic
weekend and we need Mom and Dad to get as much sleep as possible.

Thank you for all your support.
Much love,
Dina

Benjamin starts painting after exploring the other activities on
Wednesday morning at GeoKids.

Benjamin decides to make hand prints after painting with a brush.

Hi Everyone -

Just a quick update to let you know that Dad is home from the hospital!! He is doing well, although it appears that he may have new sensitivities (stuffed nose and sore throat) so we are trying to get rid of all allergens from the house (perfume, flowers, scented laundry detergent, dustmites, mold, etc.).

We are all very excited by Dad’s rapid recovery and I am going to try to find a few times during the week for people to call when it is more likely that Dad is available. It’s still overwhelming for both Mom and Dad to receive multiple phone calls throughout the day.

I can’t end this update without mentioning how proud I am of both Mom and Dad for how they handle these inconveniences.

Thank you again for all your support.
Much love,
Dina

Here is Benjamin playing with his new stamps.

After a little practice, Benjamin starts putting the stamps on the ink pad.

He then puts the stamp on the paper.

Just a quick note to let you know that Dad had a good night (no known bleeding) and is starting on fluids today. We are all continuing to wait and see what happens. If things go well then we hope Dad can start some food over the next few days. If not, then we will discuss options. Right now, everything looks good and we are excited with Dad’s progress.

Thanks again for your support.
Dad did lose a lot of blood and is weak from not eating so we continue to request no phone calls to the hospital or house.

Much love,
Dina

Hi Everyone.

Up until yesterday it appeared that everything was going well and there wasn’t much to report. Dad seemed to be continuing his recovery, although a cold was making him tired. Then yesterday Dad passed out briefly and Mom brought him in to see the doctor. It was found that he had internal bleeding and he was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening. I was told that we would get more details this morning and at 7 AM Mom called to say that they might have to operate. I caught an 8:50 AM flight out (Benjamin was dressed at daycare and Stephen showered at his office before meeting with customers). The internal bleeding site was found while I was on the plane and cauterized. I’m now at the hospital and Dad is in good spirits. Elie is also here so we are all hanging out watching movies. It’s been several hours since the doctors have seen signs of the bleeding and once again you couldn’t tell that Dad had just had a horrible 24 hours. We are still waiting to hear more and I will send out information when we have it.

Please do not call the hospital or the house. Dad needs his rest and his throat is sore from the tests and lack of food/fluids.

Mom is also doing well and her walking has improved greatly (she was hit by a cab in NY during one of the cold spells and physical therapy is helping her to make a remarkable recovery from some muscle and nerve damage).

Much love and thanks,
Dina

Here is Benjamin at the zoo last weekend climbing on a bronze hippopotamus statue.

Hi and Happy Holidays (a bit late)! Stephen, Benjamin, and I visited Delaware over the holidays and can report that Dad looks great and continues to improve every day. His daily routine still involves medication (in IV and pill form) that takes a few hours of his time but he is also working, reading, taking short walks, and resting. Overall, he is doing really well and we are all very excited about it. Several of Dad’s doctors have recently commented on how impressed they are with Dad’s recovery (including the doctor who told us all how serious this is a few months ago). So we continue to think positive thoughts about Dad beating the pneumonia and regaining more and more of his strength. On a slightly less enthusiastic note, we did find out that Dad’s graft-vs-host is chronic. I don’t know the full details yet but we are so excited by Dad’s current progress that we are focusing all of our attention on the improvements for now.

We hope you had a great new year.
Much love,
Dina

ps On a sad note, our good family friend Peter Boettcher died of lung cancer on Dec. 31st. Stephen, Benjamin, and I went up to Northampton, MA for the funeral and we continue to send our best wishes to all of the Boettchers.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Benjamin running in Granny and Granddad’s yard in Kitchener, ON (Canada).

Dad and Mom heading out to run errands (Newark, DE).

Stephen and Benjamin check out the alphabet windows at Bergdorfs in NYC before going to say goodbye to FAO Schwartz and hello to the animals in the Central Park Zoo.

It looks like Dad is going to be coming home from the hospital this week!!

We are all very excited. His white blood cell count has climbed into the low range for a healthy male (it climbed from close to zero so it’s gone up a lot) and his other counts are holding (they’re low, but holding). Coming home from the hospital is a huge win in the battle but there are still many challenges left. Dad is still fighting the pneumonia and will continue to fight it for several months. Dad is also fighting some of the side effects of the drugs that are helping him fight the pneumonia. So the bottom line is that he’s doing great but will need to rest for the next few months. I think the first few weeks at home will be the most tiring as Dad readjusts to a slightly larger living space and access to real food (not that real food wasn’t brought to the hospital for Dad, just that the prix fix menu wasn’t highly recommended).

Here’s to Happy Holidays and continuing best wishes.
Thank you.
Love,
Dina

ps I am presenting at our big geology conference next week and still have a significant amount of work to do. I apologize in advance for not returning any email messages but I will forward them to Mom and Dad.

Benjamin gets ready for the Run to the Far Side (a race in Golden Gate Park the Sunday of Thanksgiving sponsored by the California Academy of Sciences and based on Gary Larson cartoons). It rained the morning of the race so I don’t have any good pictures from it (we were all soaked). Benjamin enjoyed seeing all the runners and loved the costumes.

Hi.

I’m not sure where to begin so I will try to be as succinct as I can. Dad is still in the hospital. His blood counts have been going up slowly and we are hopeful that they will continue to increase. A new concern is that Dad has pneumonia. The doctors did a biopsy on the day I flew in to Delaware and have found that it is a virulent strain in his lungs. I have been very impressed by the steps the doctors are taking to solve each challenge. The new medication is a 4+ hour IV drug that Dad seems to be tolerating well (it surprised his doctors). We are all very hopeful that the drugs will clear up his lungs but we’ve been told that it is a serious battle.

Dad looks great and takes walks around his floor during the day. The drugs make him tired and he needs lots of sleep to recover. If you would like to send something – cards, letters, or postcards would be great. He is on a restricted diet (no fresh fruits or vegetables, no peppercorns) and can not be near flowers or plants (more on food below pictures).

The most important thing for all of us to do is to stay positive – and Dad needs to be the most positive.

Thank you so much for your support.
Because of the pneumonia, it would be best for Dad not to receive phone calls (his doctors want him to take pain killers for his cough).

Thank you again.
Love,
Dina

ps I’ve switched the date in the subject line because it was confusing to some. Dad was diagnosed with AML and started his first round of chemotherapy on Oct. 11, 2002.

Benjamin and his lacrosse stick (after playing in the water with Stephen).

Benjamin in the big (rope) spider web at the SF Zoo.

More about food -
If you do send food (more for people in the area), we can not take food from Dad’s room out to the microwave or refrigerator so it would be easiest if it was in small containers. And, of course, please be super-careful about preparing the food (wash hands, don’t cook if you’re sick or anyone else in the house is sick, please don’t taste the food and put the spoon back in, etc.).

Hi.

It’s been a strange few weeks for all. Dad is back in the hospital and has been there for about a week. Dad has had two common manifestations of the GvH (graft-vs-host), the first is a rash and the second is uncharacteristic liver enzymes. It appears that both are currently under control, which is really good news. The main item that is being attended to is that Dad’s blood counts are still low.

As I mentioned in Update 31, GvH can take a long time to battle (6-12 months). I guess the strange part for all of us is how quickly these challenges appear. Dad sounded great the day he entered the hospital. The fever was a little annoying but it was down by the time he was checked into a room. It was unclear at that time how long he would need to stay and now it appears that it is going to be for a while.

Mom is bringing Dad his mail to the hospital and I will continue to forward email messages.
We thank you all for your continuing support and best wishes.
Thank you.
Love,
Dina

Benjamin (left) was a lacrosse player at a Halloween party the weekend of Oct 24th but he dropped his lacrosse stick, ball, and hat 5 minutes into the party. My plan was for him to be a frog (see below) but it was almost 100 degree F. Here he plays in the jumpolene with his friend Trey (there was also a big bouncy house that he enjoyed).

Benjamin’s frog costume from Halloween. I can’t remember what he was saying but it was funny. I also forgot to bring my camera to Trey’s house on Halloween but Ben was an adorable and energetic frog (Trey was a horse).

Hi. We just returned from Delaware and I apologize for not finding the time to send an update earlier. Dad is at home but has been diagnosed with graft-vs.-host (GvH) disease. This is both good and bad. The bad part is that it can be quite serious and Dad needs to rest, fight the GvH, and not get any infections, which would further complicate the healing process. The other bad part is that it can last for a long time (6-12 months). The good news is that most people who have had some GvH are free of leukemia once they have battled GvH. Our doctor was hoping that Dad would have some GvH last time so we’re a little excited about it (okay, maybe optimistic is a more appropriate word since we would prefer that there was some sort of magic that would make everything better right now). Dad is on steroids to help clear up some of the symptoms along with several other drug therapies. He is in good spirits, looks great, and enjoyed seeing Benjamin.

So what does that mean for all of us. Dad needs lots of time to rest and fight the GvH. It’s also VERY important for him to not have any visitors with infections. This is hard on everyone and especially hard for Dad who wants to return to his office, meetings, and other pursuits. It’s also hard to predict how long this is going to last and there is no doubt that Dad will be bored and want to talk with and see everyone, which means that we need to help him recover by letting him rest. Please also keep in mind that Mom needs to rest too. As you can see below (I apologize if you can’t see the pictures and we’ll try to post them on a website soon), Dad looks great. If you find yourself talking with Dad, please keep the conversation as short as possible. We don’t want Dad’s throat, or anything else, to get worse.

Thank you for your understanding and continued best wishes.
I will continue to forward email.
Here’s to fighting GvH!
Love,
Dina

ps Benjamin is 18 months old today.

Dad and Benjamin read an alphabet book.

Mom and Dad watch Benjamin climb out of the garden.

Hi.
On Wednesday afternoon Dad had a doctor’s appointment and was sent to the hospital when they found that he had a 102+ (F) fever. In addition to the fever, he also has a full body rash of unknown cause (both the fever and rash have been clearing up). Dad is in good spirits and will be released from the hospital once he is fever-free for 24 hours. The main focus right now is to get Dad’s blood counts back up. This means that he really needs to take it easy and let his body heal (not an easy task for many of us).

So here’s the hard part, we all need to give Dad’s body time to heal (I’m sounding more and more like some of my ‘California’ doctors). Dad loves hearing about what you are doing and I know that resting in the hospital, or at home, is not as enjoyable as the work he loves or good conversation with his friends and family. I am asking that we all give Dad (and Mom) the time needed to heal by not calling.

We really appreciate everyone’s good wishes, thoughts, and prayers. Please continue to focus your positive thoughts on Dad’s blood counts coming back up.

Thank you again.
Love,
Dina

ps I will continue to forward all email replies to Dad in a digest form.
pps Here are two pictures from last weekend. It feels like Benjamin is becoming more independent everyday.

Benjamin checks out the coral and fish at the Monterey aquarium.

A peaceful view from Pebble Beach.