Will's Mary Anne Schwalbe News

Memorial Service -- February 26

2010-02-21T13:40:00.003-05:00

There will be a celebration of Mom's life this coming Friday, February 26, at 6pm at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Madison at 73rd Street. Reception at the church to follow. All are welcome.

Hope this finds everyone extremely well. Thanks so much again for all the love and support.

Notice that Ran in the New York Times

2009-09-16T09:17:00.002-04:00

We are overwhelmed and very grateful to everyone for the wonderful emails, notes and calls. Below is the text of the paid announcement we ran in the New York Times. Several friends and organizations have also run wonderful tributes to Mom in the New York Times. We will soon be writing thanks to everyone who has reached out to us. Again, we thank you all for your incredible love and support.

SCHWALBE—Mary Anne, died on September 14, at age 75, of pancreatic cancer. She was an educator and advocate for refugees and displaced persons. She earned her A.B. from Radcliffe College. After working in theater for Irene Selznick and Frederick Brisson and The Playwrights Company, she joined the Radcliffe Admissions office and eventually became Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid for Harvard and Radcliffe. In 1979, she moved back to New York and became Director of College Counseling at Dalton and then Head of the Upper School of Nightingale-Bamford. In 1989, she took a leave to work in a refugee camp in the northeast of Thailand, and became committed to the cause of refugees. In 1990, she helped found The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women & Children as its first Staff Director. She was also the founder of the International Rescue Committee’s UK Board. Her work on behalf of refugees brought her to 27 countries, often during war. She served on 22 boards, including Brearley (where she went to school), Radcliffe College, and The College Board. She received an Honorary Doctorate from Marymount Manhattan and the De La Salle Service Award. She was the first woman to be President of the Harvard Faculty Club. She was also an Elder of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and was working to help build traveling libraries in Afghanistan. Her husband, Douglas, her children Douglas, Will, and Nina, their spouses Nancy, David, and Sally, and her five grandchildren adored her. In lieu of flowers, she asked that donations be made to the IRC, the Women’s Refugee Commission, The Brearley School, Harvard/Radcliffe, Marymount Manhattan College, or De la Salle Academy. A celebration of her life will be held in late autumn.

September 14

2009-09-14T07:43:00.002-04:00

Mom died at 3:30 this morning. She died peacefully and her pain was well-managed.

We will be planning a memorial service to celebrate her life later this fall.

We are more grateful than we can say to everyone for your love and support.

September 13 Update

2009-09-13T19:34:00.003-04:00

Mom's illness continues to progress swiftly. She is receiving excellent care from the amazing home hospice team. It is hard to tell how much she is aware of what is going on around her.

We are so grateful to all of you for your thoughts and prayers and good wishes. And thanks so much, too, to everyone for understanding about the difficulty of phone calls.

Again, we will keep everyone posted on the blog and send our thanks and love to all.

September 12 Update

2009-09-12T16:50:00.004-04:00

Mom's illness is progressing quickly. She is resting quietly and her pain is being controlled. She is not taking any phone calls or visitors and is not checking her email. We will update the blog every day and thank everyone for your kind thoughts.

It's difficult for us, too, to answer the phone or reply to emails, so please do continue to check the blog for updates.

Again, our thanks to everyone for all your support.

September Update

2009-09-11T08:51:00.002-04:00

Starting last Monday, Mom has been feeling much worse. Phone calls are difficult -- so it's far better to send her emails than to call. She reads all her emails, but may not be able to answer promptly as she has been spending more time in bed, and has had, for the last few days, a much more limited amount of energy. Her spirits remain strong.

Also, Nina is here from Geneva -- and that's great for all of us.

Mom watched Obama's speech and was encouraged by it. She thinks he did an excellent job on the speech, and that it will help get us some kind of health reform this fall, which the country desperately needs.

We all hope everyone had a good Labor Day -- and will keep you posted on any news.

Hospice Team and Health Care

2009-08-24T15:48:00.003-04:00

Mom wants everyone to know that she has an excellent Hospice team - nurse, social worker, nutritionist - who are taking good care of her. And, with Dad's help and a dose of Ritalin, she has been able to get to some morning Mostly Mozart rehearsals and two afternoon performances. She is not going out in the evening any more.

We see the doctor next week and will have another medical report after that.

But she also wanted anyone reading this to put full support behind some kind of health care reform. She feels she is so blessed with the care she has received and that it is terribly unfair that people who have worked as hard as she has have no access to care -- either because they have lost their jobs or had jobs that didn't provide insurance or have pre-existing conditions that do not allow them to get (or afford) insurance. There is no perfect solution, but some kind of bill has to be passed this fall.

We all send our best to all friends and family.

August Update

2009-08-06T10:14:00.002-04:00

Mom had a good time in July with the whole family together at one point, and Nina and Sally and the boys here for much of the month. Then she had a few days in the hospital, and all of us are now working with the palliative care people and hospice people to make sure she can be home and have the appropriate care when she needs it. She does not answer her emails quite as quickly as she always has, but she does read them and gets to them when she can. Everyone's support in the past two years has made so much of a difference to her and to all of us. We hope everyone is having a good summer.

July Update

2009-07-16T08:31:00.000-04:00

Mom went to the doctor on Thursday and the disease is progressing -- which is what everyone had expected. Recently, she has had less energy and more fevers. To help with the energy, she had a transfusion yesterday but it had to be interrupted because she got a fever during it. She's feeling much better today than yesterday and is looking forward to spending some time in the country.

Mom's spirits are very good and she'll be back in NYC at the start of August. We hope that everyone is having a great summer. Mom's next scan is in early August and I'll report back after that.

June Scan and Doctor Visit

2009-06-05T16:53:00.001-04:00

Very briefly, there was both bad and good news when Mom saw the doctor today after her scan on Wednesday. The bad news is that the tumors are growing; the good news is that there is a spot open in a clinical trial for a drug that may help slow the growth of tumors. Mom can start at the end of June (she will decide about that after reading the material and talking to the doctor next week). This also means that there is no more chemotherapy.

More after she and the hospital have made a decision.

As always, thanks for all your care and support.

May 26 Update

2009-05-26T07:35:00.000-04:00

Mom has not had an easy time since the last chemotherapy treatment two and a half weeks ago. We saw her oncologist on Friday but will not know anything about whether the treatment has been effective in slowing the growth of the cancer until she has another scan on June 3rd and sees the doctor on June 5th.

She has been very happy to see some visitors from England and other places, and sends everyone best wishes. And the next report will be after June 5th.

May 2 Update

2009-05-02T13:39:00.001-04:00

Mom wanted everyone to know that she is doing pretty well. Her next chemotherapy treatment is on the afternoon of May 8th -- after a luncheon on the 7th celebrating the first 20 years of the Women's Refugee Commission -- and Grandparents Day (Adrian and Lucy) the morning of the 8th. She went to a wonderful Nic McGegan concert two nights ago and was able to stay all the way through it.

Mom has had a problem with one hip - the bone scan showed something but the doctor does not think it is cancer. We will know more after an MRI in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, she is thinking of all of you.

April Update

2009-04-08T10:48:00.001-04:00

Just a quick update before I leave for a trip at the end of the week. We met with the doctor yesterday morning and, as the experimental trials take time to join, Dr. O'Reilly started Mom on another chemotherapy treatment. It is once a month for two months, and the side effects are all ones she is used to from prior treatments. She sends everyone best wishes.

I will be back in touch early in May -- when it had better be warmer than it is today!

March Update

2009-03-24T17:49:00.001-04:00

Mom went to the doctor today for the results on her last scan. Unfortunately, the scan revealed that the present
treatment isn't working -- so the doctor is looking at experimental treatments. Which one depends on
a lot of factors (including whether Mom fits the criteria of the study and whether space is available) and is something
the doctor will discuss with Mom when she goes back for another checkup in two weeks. The treatments under
consideration have shown promise, the doctor says, in slowing the growth of tumors.

This does mean that -- for the first time in 18 months -- Mom will have had a month without a treatment. So
she's looking forward to some time without some of the side effects she's been experiencing -- and also to
the arrival of spring and warm weather.

As always, we all thank you for all your support!

More from Vero Beach

2009-02-21T09:48:00.002-05:00

I'm with mom in Vero. All the family has been to visit. She has another treatment here on Thursday and will go home to New York on Saturday. And though she has not always felt well, it has been wonderful for her to be where it is warm, and to see her friends in Florida.

Vero Beach

2009-02-04T12:43:00.002-05:00

Mom is in Florida where it is not very warm but much better than New York. She went to the doctor there yesterday and has a treatment there next week. She has settled in to the little house she and Dad have rented for the month of February. Nina and Sally and the boys are coming from Geneva this weekend - and then, over the next few weeks, the rest of the family will be there as well.

She does have email access.

Her friends in Vero Beach are taking good care of her, and being in Florida is a nice change for her. She sends best wishes to everyone.

January Scan

2009-01-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

Mom went to the doctor today for the results of her last scan. The scan wasn't good, so Mom is starting a new treatment. The tumors in her liver are growing in size and number, though they are smaller than they were when she first started treatment. There is still another possible treatment to slow the growth of the tumors, if this one doesn't work or proves too hard to tolerate.

Mom can go to Florida for the month of February, as planned, and is really looking forward to that for many, many reasons, including getting away from the cold. She will have treatments while there.

As always, we are very grateful to everyone for all the good wishes and support.

Christmas

2008-12-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

Mom had a good Christmas with all of the family and was so happy to have everyone here and to see the grandchildren together. She has her next treatment on the 2nd and then a scan the following week so we will know more when she sees the doctor on the 13th. She is hoping to go to Florida for a month on the 1st of February -- as you know how much she dislikes cold weather.
She is so grateful for all your messages of support and good cheer over this holiday season and it has made a big difference to her in so many ways.

I will send another report after the 13th when we know whether or not this present treatment is working.

Our thanks and good wishes to all.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T10:49:00.002-05:00

Mom had a really nice Thanksgiving with a few family members and friends. She is off from her treatments till next week, looking forward to some good days, and hoping there is no more trouble in India or other parts of the world.

Today, she will be making turkey soup and turkey a la king with leftover turkey, and she has gone to my new web site -- www.cookstr.com - for the recipes.

We all hope everyone had a good day yesterday with family and friends.

November 16 Update

2008-11-16T09:31:00.001-05:00

Mom is in the second session of her new treatment and has the next one this Friday. The port is making it much easier in many ways and for the first two days after the treatment, when she is carrying the chemo with her, she is not going to make many plans. But she has been told to do as much as possible on the days when she is feeling well and is looking forward to Thanksgiving and to Christmas with the whole family here.

She had a wonderful day on Wednesday going to part of the IRC Annual Board Meeting and to the 75th Anniversary Freedom Award Dinner that night - and has been taking it easy since then.

Thanks for all your interest and support.

October 25th News

2008-10-25T12:44:00.003-04:00

Mom has had some trouble in the past few weeks with an infection they think she picked up last time she was in the hospital. It seems to be clearing up with a new antibiotic, and she is starting to feel better.

Mom's port was put in on Wednesday, and her first chemo treatment with it was yesterday, I was with her and it involves hooking up a bottle to the port, which she then wears/carries around for 48 hours until it's empty. She then gets it unattached, which she can do at the hospital's urgent care center, which is very near her. The schedule will be once every two weeks -- so it's two days on, then twelve days off. The current plan is for her to get it attached on Friday and taken off on Sunday night, every other week.

She should know in the next few days how the side effects compare to the other treatments she has been receiving.

Her next appointment is November 7th and I will get back to everyone then. In the meantime, I know she is busy watching everything to do with the election and praying a lot for Obama and Biden!

Again thanks for all the messages.

Treatment Update

2008-10-10T04:26:00.001-04:00

Mom did not start a new treatment today but will the week after next. They are going to insert a port next week and that will make the treatments easier in many ways. Her doctor was encouraging in saying that Mom can go to Florida again and that there is something she can take from time to time for a special occasion like the Freedom Award Dinner for the IRC on November 12th so that she will feel well on that particular day!

More in two weeks after the new treatments start. As always, Mom so appreciates the care and concern of her friends and all your support in the past year!

October 2 News

2008-09-30T21:33:00.003-04:00

Mom had a small setback this week and spent a few nights in the hospital. She is now home and doing much better, but it may take a while before she can return all her phone calls and emails.

As always, thanks so much to everyone for all the good wishes.

September Update

2008-09-14T08:48:00.001-04:00

Mom had a good week in London and loved the visit from Geneva of Nina and Sally and Milo and Cy, but she developed another infection and is having a procedure tomorrow (Monday the 15th). She has also been in close touch with Nicolas and Adrian and Lucy to hear all about their first weeks of school. She may not respond to emails for the next few days but is thinking of all of you and will be back to a regular schedule by the end of the week. Her next treatment is next Friday.

She has had a good summer, all things considered, and will be in the city all fall. She is looking forward to catching up with everyone in the coming months.

August Update

2008-08-08T16:22:00.003-04:00

Mom had a terrific summer with family and friends. She just today got the results of the latest scan. The scan still looks very good but there's been a small change -- a small area has begun to grow, which means there may be some resistance after almost a year on the original course of treatment.

This means that it's time for a slightly different course of treatment, which started today. The idea is to stay ahead -- the vast majority is still very well controlled.

Mom is feeling pretty good and looking forward to her trip to London the first week in September. She sees the doctor again at the end of the month and we will let you know more then.

In the meantime, thanks for all the messages. We hope everyone is having a great end of the summer.

Summer

2008-06-13T07:33:00.002-04:00

Mom had another good report from the doctor. She's really looking forward to the summer. Her next scan is in August -- so there probably won't be a blog update until after that. And we will all probably be checking our email less and spending more time reading, relaxing, and being outdoors. Hope you all will be doing the same!

We also hope that everyone has a wonderful, relaxing, and fun summer. And thanks very much again to everyone for all the good wishes.

Very Quick Update

2008-06-01T23:50:00.002-04:00

There isn't much news this week -- except to say that Mom is doing well and has an appointment with the doctor this Friday. We hope everyone is enjoying the start of summer.

Marymount Manhattan Honorary Degree

2008-05-19T16:20:00.004-04:00

Mom is doing well and has started treatments again. Last week, Nina was in town -- which was great. And Mom received an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) from Marymount Manhattan College during their commencement ceremony. The event was wonderful -- it was held on Friday, May 16, in Avery Fisher Hall. Also receiving honorary degrees were Dr. Elaine Pagels and Theresa Lang.

Here is a link to a video that first shows the end of the citation and introduction (read by Idrissa Kone, the 2008 recipient of the Mary Anne Schwalbe Scholarship) and then Mom's acceptance speech.

The sound is a bit hard to hear during the introduction, and the camera work is a bit shaky at the start (!), but it gets clear and steady after a short while.

If the above link doesn't work, paste the below into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9oFlp8p3DI

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T07:52:00.001-04:00

Mom is now home from the hospital and doing well. She had a great Mother's Day with family -- and received special Mother's Day drawings from all four young grandchildren.

May 5 Update

2008-05-05T10:57:00.001-04:00

Mom wasn't feeling well over the weekend and went to the hospital on Saturday, where they are treating her with antibiotics for an infection. She expects to be out by the end of the week. But she won't be on her email or returning calls until a few days after she's home. The good news is that the latest scan shows that there's no growth in the cancer -- she's in the hospital now because of a bacterial infection.

Geneva and New York

2008-04-25T20:33:00.003-04:00

Mom (and Dad) had a great time in Geneva -- though Mom did need to go to the hospital while there because of a high fever.

She spent time with Milo and Cy (and, of course, Nina and Sally). She saw the boys' schools and met their teachers. And she loved Nina and Sally's apartment.

Now she's back in NYC and loving the warm weather. She's taking Nico to see Macbeth. She is a little more tired these days than
previously. But she had a good visit with the doctor today. Her next scan is at the end of June, after a short trip to London.

She liked Jhumpa Lahiri's new book of short stories. But next she thinks she will go back and re-read some of the things she's already read and loved.

April news

2008-04-07T08:49:00.002-04:00

Because of the side effects of the treatments, Mom has not been feeling very well in the past two weeks, but she is now off treatments till the 25th. She and Dad are going to Geneva to see Nina and Sally and the boys from the 13th to the 22nd - so there will be no reports til after then. She and Dad are really excited about the trip.

Mom went in to her first meeting in six months at the IRC last week. And on Saturday, she and Dad took Adrian to see Mary Poppins - his first Broadway show! They all loved it!

She has also been working at home on the Afghan project -- and has been getting reports on school and college results from friends whose children and grandchildren were applying.

She hopes to catch up with everyone in May.

Latest Scan Results

2008-03-21T17:09:00.001-04:00

Mom got very good news today. The treatments are continuing to work really well, and the scans showed significant improvement. Mom has some weight back on and has much more energy. The doctor was really pleased with how she's doing, how well she's tolerating the treatment, and the effect the treatment is having.

Mom will be going to the office a few days a week for a few hours. And she will be traveling to Geneva and London this spring, timed around her treatments. And she's finished reading THE TRANSLATOR, which she loved.

The Latest from Vero

2008-03-03T12:50:00.006-05:00

I am down here for the week with Mom and having a fantastic time. It's so beautiful in Vero Beach. And it has been wonderful to spend such a relaxing and fun week here with Mom. Her treatments here are going well and she has a great time down here. And it's not bad at all to be missing that terrible NYC weather!

Email/cellphone service though is spotty! So she has to go to the computer store to send emails. She will be back in New York next Tuesday and so will be back in more regular email contact then.

Florida News

2008-02-18T15:23:00.002-05:00

Mom is having a good time in Florida. Doug and Nancy and Adrian and Lucy have been with Mom and Dad this weekend and all have loved it there. Mom met her Vero doctor last week and is most enthusiastic about her and the facility.

I will be there with her next week and will send another report. She gets to a computer every other day and will do her best to answer messages.

Pre-Florida Update

2008-02-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

I went with Mom for her treatment on Friday and the doctor was, again, encouraging. Mom is off the oral chemo until her blisters heal, and just on the IV treatment now. She will go back on both while she is in Florida where she will be receiving treatments under the care of a doctor there.

She had a wonderful visit from two former Harvard students - John Lithgow (John had been performing his one man children's show at NYC's New Victory Theater the weekend Mom was in London - but Nancy and Adrian and Lucy went with some friends and went backstage after it and were thrilled with the performance and the visit) and his dear pal from Harvard, Bob Edgar, who is at the New York Community Trust. Bob's wife, Sally, teaches at Nightingale, and I am their son's godfather, and John Lithgow is their daughter's godfather, and Bob was also a teacher of mine at St. Paul's, and Bob and Sally are dear friends of mine and of Mom and Dad's. So this is a classic Six Degrees of Separation relationship. Though, as we all know, with Mom there are almost never more than two degrees of separation between her and just about anyone you can find anywhere in the world. Mom loved catching up with John. John will be spending more time in New York and doing more theater again so we will be seeing more of him.

She is off to Florida next Saturday and will not have a computer with her so you may not hear from her as often from there.

Again, she sends thanks for all the support and good wishes and will be back in the city on March 11th.

Lucy's Birthday and Schedule

2008-01-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

Mom has had a good few days after her return from London except for blisters on her feet which make it hard to stand or walk. She loved being at granddaughter Lucy's 4th birthday party on Sunday and has been trying to catch up on mail and e-mails after her week away. As always, friends and family have been wonderfully supportive.

If she does not catch up with you in person now, she will on her return after March 11th. And will try to stay in touch while she is away.

London -- Second Post

2008-01-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

Mom is in London for a week between treatments and is having a great time. She was there for a friend's 70th birthday and has managed to catch up with many of the people she and Dad know there -- either by phone or in person. Nina and Sally and the boys came for the weekend from Geneva which was wonderful. No theater or concerts but some nice walks and meals. And she will have a visit from an IRC staff member tomorrow to catch up on what is going on as she can not be there for the next Board Meeting.

She will be home Wednesday night and goes for a treatment on Friday.

London

2008-01-16T08:10:00.000-05:00

Last week was another not very good week for Mom, but yesterday Mom and Dad flew to London for the first time since early July and reports are that she had a good flight and was feeling a little better. Mom and Dad are looking forward to seeing friends and to the visit from Nina and Sally and Milo and Cy over the weekend.

Last Saturday she did get to see Adrian play tennis with his pal Joe and his cousin, Alex, (they were all great), and had time with Lucy as well.

Many friends have come by to see her and that has been wonderful. And now that she is off the treatments for a week, she should be feeling much better in a couple of days.

Mom may not have access to e-mails till her return on the 23rd; we will be back in touch with a new blog post then.

First 2008 Update

2008-01-08T07:12:00.000-05:00

After a great Christmas week, Mom had a bad time over New Years. She will have one more treatment before going to London on the 15th for a week with Dad, and they are both looking forward to their time in England - seeing friends - and having Nina and Sally and Milo and Cy come from Geneva for the weekend.

She has been reading a lot and loved People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - especially the parts that take place in Sarajevo.

She is looking forward to going in to the office once this week to catch up with people there and hopes to be able to see more friends on her return from London.

Christmas

2007-12-30T09:56:00.000-05:00

Mom had a great Christmas Eve going to a carol service at her church with family, and then a wonderful Christmas Day at Doug and Nancy's with all of the family there including Nico who had flown in from Paris that morning.

Her treatments still seem to be going well, and we all had a great celebration of brother Doug's birthday at a Lebanese restaurant last night with all the generations there.

A real treat for Mom was having two of the Liberian refugees -- along with two of their friends -- come to visit this week. Momoh Dudu and Winnie Barbu both came to the US, with Mom's help, to go to Marymount Manhattan College. They have done wonderfully well. Momoh is living in Minneapolis and Winnie in Philadelphia. They came to see Mom on Thursday and she was so pleased to spend time with them.

Nina, Sally, Milo and Cy are now back in Geneva.

Again, she and the rest of the family are so grateful for your support and good wishes. We all hope you had wonderful holidays with family and friends.

December 18

2007-12-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

After two great days on Friday and Saturday, Mom had two bad ones on Sunday and Monday. Today is looking better.

She read an amazing book about life in prison in Burma called THE LIZARD CAGE by Karen Connelly, which, Mom says, makes one forget any problems here. She is looking forward to going to The Messiah. Dad's conductor, Nic McGegan, is leading the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall.

I (Will) am about to venture out and try to start and finish my Christmas shopping. Thankfully, it's just beautiful outside.

Encouraging News

2007-12-14T11:52:00.000-05:00

The treatments are working and the doctor says the scans show that some of the tumors are shrinking and there are no new ones. This means that Mom can continue with the same course of treatment. Other news to follow next week.

December News

2007-12-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Mom had another good week last week. She spent an evening with two of her grandchildren, Adrian and Lucy; talked to Milo and Cy on the phone and heard more about their first weeks in Geneva; and also talked with Nico in Paris. She was able to participate on Saturday at the annual making of plum puddings for the family, thanks to our cousin Laurinda, who organized it all.

Mom more than enjoys your emails, though she is not answering them as quickly as her fingers are a little numb and she does not type quite as well as before.

She has a scan next week to find out how things are going. We will have news from the doctor on December 14th and will be back in touch after that.

Mom read Wallace Stegner's CROSSING TO SAFETY last week, a book I've always meant to read. Mom loved it -- so I am going to put it next on my list of books to read.

Post-Thanksgiving Update

2007-11-26T08:46:00.000-05:00

Mom did not have a great week last week, but I went to the weekly chemo with her Friday and the doctor was encouraged by how well she is handling the treatments. They will do a scan in the middle of December and then we will know if the current treatments are working and what they do next. There will be no breaks in the chemotherapy in the coming months.

This weekend was a good one and we are hoping this week will be good as well. Mom is planning to go to the office one day and to do some of her Christmas shopping.

Again, as always, all of us thank you for your encouragement and support.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T08:32:00.000-05:00

Mom is in her second round of treatments -- not as easy as the first, but she is feeling all right. She is happy to be going to friends of mine for Thanksgiving dinner and not to be cooking this year. We are all so grateful for the support she is given and appreciate all your messages, prayers and stories.

We wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

Two Concerts and an Office Visit

2007-11-16T07:17:00.000-05:00

This has been a very good few days for Mom as she did not have a treatment last Friday. She has been to two concerts and the office for a few hours -- taken the bus and subways -- and talked to a number of friends. She is spending a lot of time at the computer -- is enormously grateful for all your messages and support -- and welcomes emails and phone calls during the day. She has even felt like eating things she used to love.

It is treatment time again today so that all may change, but it is wonderful for her and all of us to know that she will have these breaks.

2007-11-08T08:40:00.001-05:00

November 8th Update

2007-11-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Here, on a beautiful November morning, is an update. It's the third week of chemotherapy for Mom and she says it's a little more difficult, but she is hoping that next week, the week of November 12th, when she has a week off from the treatment, she will be able to do more things -- for example, she is going to try to go to the office once or twice. She has been doing a lot of reading -- David Halberstam's THE COLDEST WINTER and lots of novels.

Again, she appreciates all the cards and emails and all the support from family and friends.

First Update

2007-10-26T11:53:00.000-04:00

Mom is still doing very well as the treatments continue. She's also had more time for yoga, which she loves, and for straightening out things at home. She wants everyone to know how grateful she is for the notes and emails.

--Will

Best Way to Keep in Touch

2007-10-20T08:31:00.000-04:00

Mom started her weekly treatment yesterday as an outpatient at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She says the people are incredibly nice there and she was impressed with the whole setup.

A lot of people have asked Mom, Dad, Doug, Nina, and me about the best way to keep in touch -- which is part of the reason for this blog! I'll post news when there is news to post, including dates on Mom's trips to London, Geneva, etc...So you can check back on the blog as often as you like for any updates.

And, as I'm sure everyone has guessed, email to Mom and regular old snail mail are much better than phone calls. (My father has never been a great fan of the phone). Of course, depending on her treatments and travels, she may not always be able to reply right away to emails or notes. So please don't worry if you don't hear back.

Thanks to everyone for your concern and kind thoughts and words. Mom is really grateful, as are we all.

--Will