Wayne Jones -Celebration

Hi folks,  Here's a shot of me celebrating last week (taken using a little radio-control shutter release).  As much as I enjoy celebrating with family and friends, time to reflect alone in the wilderness gives me a chance for some deeper, profoundly thankful celebrating.

I try not to dwell on my health issues, but I think this is a good time for an update, for those of you who have been so encouraging for several years.

Last week my oncologist/hematologist gave me a high five to report the results of my latest CT scan!  This one marks 7 years since my lymphoma diagnosis, and 5 years since my last major chemo.  The seven year mark is kind of special because the average survival time for mantle cell lymphoma is 5-7 years, so I am now officially beating the odds.  More encouraging news is the that the last chemo I had was rather extreme, and it did not have a long track record when I went through it five years ago. Now a report says that many people who went through the same kind of chemo 8 years ago are still in remission!  They are making strides in treating this nasty blood cancer.

Every October that I am still here is a celebration for me.  This year I celebrated with another challenging (for my old legs anyway) outing, making my toughest hike since I retired.  I had a great trip up to Giant's Nubble on the south side of Giant mountain in a wilderness area of the Adirondacks.  It's half-day trek for most hikers, but I enjoyed 12 hours there, exploring views, waiting for good light, and smiling a whole lot! (I'll post some photos from there this week.)  Thanks to all of my friends at NPN who helped me get this far!