Good Evening from WA Jeff, First my condolences on your family's loss and my prayers are with you and the family. Next, I think you have made a good call on the next couple of issues for Freelance Traveller, which means I have more time to read the issues i have. Finally, thank you for Freelance Traveller. Respectfully, Thomas M. Rux, a.k.a. Tom Rux > On October 29, 2018 at 5:04 PM Jeff Zeitlin <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote: > > > It is much against my preference, and with my deep regret, that I must > announce that there will be no November/December 2018 issue of > _Freelance Traveller_. > > The past few weeks have been a trial for me. At the beginning of > September, my father was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, and > within two weeks of the diagnosis, it was confirmed that it had gone > metastatic to the liver. Without treatment, the prognosis was no more > than six months; with the most aggressive treatment available, the > prognosis was no more than seven. My father has always preferred > _quality_ of life over _quantity_ of life, and elected to decline more > than palliative care. Rehabilitative placement followed, and was > showing good progress, but after a week, there was a marked decline, > to the point that the rehabilitative facility could not handle my > father's needs and conditions. > > Just over a week ago, hospice placement was approved, and my father > was tranferred to Calvary Hospital's hospice facility in the Bronx > (NYC). Their personnel were mostly wonderful when it came to > addressing my father's needs and wants - our family tend to be poor > patients at best - and there were no indications of any problems or > misinterpretation that could not be quickly resolved. > > Throughout this, my sister and I were providing administrative and > emotional support for my mother, and for each other. > > At 6:15 EDT Saturday morning (October 27), my sister, my mother, and I > received telephone calls from the doctor at Calvary, telling us that > my father had passed shortly before, in no pain and at peace while > asleep. > > As we are Jewish, burial is to be at the earliest opportunity, and > that was today. > > My parents were married for 56.5 years, an amazing record when you > realize that it is unremarkable for more recent marriages to end > before the tenth year. There is more than the emotional aftermath to > deal with, however, and my sister and I are still "on duty". > > Unfortunately, the level of stress and call on my time means that > _something_ had to give. I thought perhaps I could manage to get the > issue out perhaps a week late as I have done in the past, but it's > simply not in the cards this time. There will be no issue 90 of > Freelance Traveller; the next issue of Freelance Traveller will be > issue 91, January/February 2019. Unlike past issues where there has > been a gap followed by a "double issue", there will be no extra > material in issue 91; it will be the usual 64 pages. > > I would have preferred not to have been forced into this evaluation of > my situation, and would have preferred not to have needed to come to > the conclusion that I have, which hurts you, the community, due to > events beyond your control, and because of my personal weakness. > Nevertheless, I would rather this than "lead you on" and then publish > an inferior product, or silently fail to publish. > > You have my profound apologies. > > -- > Jeff Zeitlin > Editor > Freelance Traveller > ----- > The Traveller Mailing List > Archives at http://archives.simplelists.com/tml > Report problems to xxxxxx@simplelists.com > To unsubscribe from this list please go to > http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=zZOCJCw2BI9jPrGTB4OJoibiHbbTEiok
