Out and About

Written by Dr. Mel

Sunday, 25 September 2005

Because my work day normally begins with the buzz of the alarm clock at 2:00 am, I don’t usually go out on a school night. But I made an exception last week for the Connecticut Magazine/March of Dimes Best of Connecticut awards. It was quite a party, and for the sixth consecutive year, I was selected by the readers of Connecticut Magazine as the "Best TV Weatherperson." But this was the first time that the big party was held in Hartford, and it is absolutely amazing. Most of the people who came to the event at the new convention center were from the Hartford area and were Hartford Courant readers, and did not watch my TV station – but they read this column and they commented how much they enjoyed it. Whenever, I am out and about in New Haven, or southern Connecticut, hardly anyone makes a comment about this column – but they always see me doing the weather on TV. It's almost like a tale of two separate states – not cities separated by a relatively short drive on I-91. In any case, I seldom write about my health, but because that question was the most frequently asked question at the party, even more than hurricanes, and because this is my next to last column for the Courant, I thought that I had better give an update today. I am doing miraculously fine. Today is my ninth anniversary with multiple myeloma which is bone marrow cancer. I still have active disease. It really isn’t in remission. The disease is incurable, but when I was first diagnosed with it, the median length of survival was just 33 months. Sure, every vertebra in my back has been fractured, and I have shrunk seven inches, but I am still here, getting up in the middle of the night and going to work. Thanks to the prayers, cards and well wishes of so many people, I have found the energy to fight this painful disease. Fortunately, I have pursued some of the promising novel treatments that have been coming along. This week, I was in Boston, sharing in the excitement of a special award being given to my doctor Ken Anderson who is paving the way in the development of dozens of new drugs for this disease. I met Ken nearly five years ago, and I began a Phase 1 trial of a new drug which is a safer and more powerful derivative of that bad, old drug, thalidomide. Ken's lab was testing the new version on a couple dozen patients. I was one of them, and believe me, if you ever decide to enter a Phase 1 trial for any drug, fasten your seatbelts. But it was the only way that I could receive the drug. Well, all these years later, I am still taking the drug called Revlimid, and whenever I have tests, the level of cancer seems to be almost non-existent. I know that these drugs eventually run their course, but so far, it has been a very good run. Yes, many sunrises are in my future.

 

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