Life's U-Turn

Dear Readers,

On August 7, 2009, Doug was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer at age 70. This happened despite the fact that he has never smoked. Needless to say, this has been a severe test for us going forward.

Meanwhile, we will publish an occasional POSTcard from our previous travels, and POSTscript updates from our archives. We feel fortunate indeed to have had the opportunity to travel as much as we have. We still expect to do some short trips near home as long as we are able to go out and about.

Later on, we will post blogs about the orphan status of lung cancer research. This is largely due to the stigma of lung cancer's association with smokers. But non-smokers are definitely at risk due to environmental factors and genetic mutations (the latter is likely in Doug's case).

Meantime, we will live life to the fullest, and welcome hearing from our readers!

November 2009 Update: After six weeks of chemotherapy, Doug has experienced a "significant partial remission" of the cancer. Although total remission is not in the cards, Doug has been able to resume most of his normal activities and feels like himself. We will enjoy this time by doing some short trips in southern California.

Doug & Marie