Back in Mongolia
Dear Friends,
Please forgive another much-delayed message. I finished the three-month acute phase of therapy at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital on September 8th. I returned to Mongolia the next morning and have been busy ever since dealing with the many mundane MACU tasks that had piled up while I was away. It is good to be busy, but I must admit, I don't yet have the stamina to do all that is required of me.
That said, I have not forgotten that I would not have been able to receive the intensive treatment at Severance Hospital without the support of all of you. I look forward to meeting each of you to say thank you in person. For those in Ulaanbaatar, please come to the fromagerie this coming Sunday afternoon around 17:00. Bring whomever you like. We will have food, drinks, and a good time together. This gathering is meant for each and every one of you as a small token of my appreciation.
My doctors—Dr. Kim Hye Ryun, immunotherapist and lead oncologist, and Dr. Kim Kyun Hwang, radiation oncologist—both discharged me from Severance with praise for my old body's ability to endure all they put it through. They were less appreciative of my appetite, which let me down and left me about 16 kilograms lighter than when I arrived. The doctors would like me to put on some weight and regain some strength before beginning a year of non-intensive immunotherapy. I am planning to leave soon for Vancouver to arrange that treatment. With luck, I should be able to qualify for provincial health insurance coverage for follow-up treatment at Vancouver's British Columbia Cancer Center.
If I continue immunotherapy for a year, Dr. Kim Hye Ryun gives me an 80%+ chance of being cancer-free with similar odds of no recurrence. Taking the treatment in Canada will mean flying back and forth between Vancouver and Ulaanbaatar several times in the coming year. That will be a little challenging, but it is a small price to pay for a light at the end of what was once a very dark tunnel. Whatever the challenges, I would not have any light to aim for were it not for the help of all of you. I am eternally grateful.
Thank you!
Mike