--- Begin Message ---
THIS IS A SECOND RESEND OF THE BULLETIN THAT WAS SENT ON SATURDAY, MAY 29.
IT IS NOT A NEW BULLETIN. MORE INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW IN A DAY OR TWO.
To all,
This is a followup update on Terence's situation, and will include many of
you who have emailed in following the sending of the first and second
updates. I tried to include everyone who asked to be included, if I've left
you off, its due to oversight and not any attempt to exclude *anyone* from
being involved in the process of healing, love, and supportthat has literally
poured in since news of this sad development. I'm doing my best to stay on
top of these lists but the process has been sporadic and imperfect due to
being focused on what is happening right here and now with Terence. More
about logistics later.
First, I want everyone to know that Terence knows of your love and support,
all the messages coming in from many quarters and so many people, and he is
moved by this outpouring. He sends all of you his love in return, and in
characteristic fashion, tells everyone not to worry. Right now Terence is
spending his time with his closest friends and family. Finn, his son, is
here with him, as is his brother, yours truly Dennis, as well as his new
lover and some of his oldest and closest friends. We are spending quality
time and just trying to love him as much as possible while at the same time
we try to sort through very complex sets of options, decisions, etc.
regarding his immediate treatment and followup treatment. Terence is in good
spirits, even though he has the disease his meds are keeping him stabilized
and he looks normal and "fit as a fiddle" as he would say. His humor,
irreverance, and bemused perspective continues to sustain not only him but
those around him, and continues unabated.
If you want to send any non-electronic messages to Terence (no packages
please) you can send them to Terence McKenna C/O Levity, P.O. Box 1013,
Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276-1013.
We are working on getting a website set up where people will be able to read
further updates on Terence's condition and progress. We will send out that
information when we have it, probably in the next update, and then after that
these email postings will become less frequent as most will be able to access
the information from the website. Communications from family members, close
friends, can still be directed to this address and I will do my best to
respond. Communications from T's many friends and admirers are also welcome
but I may not be able to respond; rest assured I am getting many messages and
these will be passed along to T as best possible. I know everyone is
concerned for Terence and the expressions are appreciated, but please do me
the favor of not overwhelming my email box; the time I spend dealing with
email is time I'm not spending with Terence and that is what I need to be
doing right now. Besides these updates, and the webpage at levity.com which
will be up shortly, Terences' conditions is being discussed in several
mailing lists, including the Novelty List, the Entheogen List, etc.
Also want to express our thanks and appreciation to the many people who have
contacted us with information on experimental therapies, different treatment
modalities, (both alternative and "conventional"), names of neurosurgeons,
website URLS, database searches, etc. There is a tremendous amount of
information and much of it is difficult to evaluate under the best of
circumstances. We do appreciate you sending that kind of information, but
ask you to rest assured that we are ignoring none of it, we are looking into
all of it in consultatation with our doctors, who are both very
compassionate and very knowledgable, and with such outside help, second
opinions, additional info, etc. as we need. Its all available to us and we
are looking at many of them very seriously. Because Terence's condition
(glioblastoma) is such an intractable condition for which there are no really
"good" therapies, (alternative or conventional) there are literally thousands
of different treatments; that's becuase none of them seem to work very well.
So, I know that your suggestions for treatment, further contacts, leads to
literature, etc. are all well meant and come from the heart, and we
appreciate them. At the same time, I ask you to "trust in the process" and
to respect our judgements when it comes down to what decisions must be made
for Terence's treatment, both in the immediate days ahead and over a longer
term of several months. Its always easy to second-guess a physician's
judgement on a particular patient when you are separated from the process and
do not have all the information that is available to the physician, to
Terence, and to his family, and may have certain preferences or beliefs
regarding various treatment modalities. I ask you, we ask you, to please not
do that. Rest assured, we have an excellent relationship with our physician,
Dr. Keep, we are working with him closely on all of the immediate and
followup treatment options, we are consulting with other medical and
alternative practitioners as needed, and Dr. Keep is in the loop and a valued
consultant on *everything* and we feel that he has a similar respect and
compassion for us.
Having said all that I can outline the consensus we have reached as to what
is to be done for Terence over the next week. After evaluating many possible
alternatives, both in terms of treatment approaches and where the treatment
should be carried out, we have agreed to what Dr. Keep, with the concurrence
of his case review board, has recommended as the least invasive, least
disruptive treatment that will be effective in the short term, afford maximum
length and quality of life, and will not compromise Terence's options or
eligibility for further followup treatments, experimental treatments, etc.
Dr. Keep's review board agrees with him, and so do we, that at this point the
use of what is called the "gamma knife" essentially a focused gamma ray
treatment, to kill the main tumor mass, followed by "soft" radiation therapy
(focused x-ray treatments) to kill the "mycelium" the remaining tendrils of
cancer cells which are diffusely embedded in the brain, over a period of
about 1 month, is the best of a number of treatment options. It is less
risky than surgery in terms of the potential for immediate damage to
collatoral areas, leading to neurological impairment and/or death on the
operating table due to hemmorrhage. The procedure is non-invasive, can be
done on an outpatient basis, and, with the followup radiotherapy, has just as
good a chance as surgery at maximum prolongation of life and preservation of
quality of life, with significantly fewer immediate risks. There is a small
but real possibility that the gamma knife treatment will result in further
swelling of the tumor which may necessitate additional followup surgery. But
the doctor feels that the risks are small and within reasonable limits.
So at this time, Terence is scheduled to have this procedure performed on
Tuesday afternoon; they will keep him in H0nolulu for the next week (though
not in the hospital) to monitor the situation. Over this time we will also
be sorting out the logistics of the next step in the therapy, the month to
six weeks of followup radiotherapy. That must be initiated quickly, as well,
and we are evaluating options as to where and when this will be done. While
all this is going on we will continue to gather information and evaluate it
with respect to chemotherapeutic treatments, alternative treatments, clinical
and experimental studies, and also what options may exist for treating the
tumor when it recurs, which unfortunately is nearly an inevitability for
this type of tumor.
We will keep you posted of course and through a variety of means, including
these periodic if somewhat irregular updates, at levity.com and various
mailing lists.
Keep sending those gift waves and hold thoughts of Terence and love in your
hearts. If you think of it give him a special extra prayer and blessing on
Tuesday when he has the procedure.
This is his brother and soulmate, Dennis
Love to all.
--- End Message ---