August 25, 1998

Posted August 25, 1998

Sue McNamara's report on Joni's "Day in the Garden" concert is now complete and it's full of her recollections about the day and her many gorgeous photographs of Joni, her band members, and the other artists who performed that day. There's also one very interesting photo of some of the JMDL contingent. (Hey, folks!)

Leslie Mixon received a touch of fame a couple of weeks ago when her local newspaper, The Santa Cruz County Sentinel, ran a piece on her adventures in Joni-land. Reporter Chris Watson, in her column called "Nothin' but Net," wrote: "For this fan, posting to Web was a labor of love." Congratulations, Leslie!

Both Sue and Leslie, as you probably all know, have served as official JM.com photographers- Sue at the "Day in the Garden" on August 15th, and Leslie at the San Jose, Ca. show back on May 19th. They've both recently approached me with an idea that I think is very kind and generous. They want to offer for sale the photographs they took during Joni's shows and then to donate a portion of their proceeds towards expenses here at JM.com. This is so very sweet of them and I greatly appreciate the offer. This will hopefully fulfill the demand for concert photos that we've been receiving by e-mail and will make lots of you happy, as well as contribute towards costs here on the Web. We'll have more info about the order process up on JM.com soon, but for now, if you're interested:

I know that it's been more than a few weeks since my last health update but frankly I've been trying to just live my life lately and I haven't felt really eager to report about the process of my cancer treatments. But from your e-mail messages, I do know that you folks care about my condition and for that affection I'm most appreciative. So here's the latest about my condition- Last week, I had my second session of chemotherapy with the drug 5-FU. Even though the dose was the same as I received during the first week of treatment back in July, this dose was much more difficult for me to handle. In fact, here it is today, four days after the last day of treatment, and I'm still feeling nauseous. I hear that it's the build-up over time of the drug in my system and that the queezy feelings will go away soon. My energy levels are so quixotic that I may get energized perhaps for an hour and then collapse on the couch for two. That's one of the reasons why it took me ten days to complete the design of the "Day in the Garden" page.

I have two or three appointments during the next two weeks to have x-rays (or an MRI) taken of the area where the tumour is located to see what effect the chemo treatments have had on it, and to determine where exactly to aim the beam of radiation which I'll begin receiving on September 15th. These radiation treatments will continue five days a week for six weeks. During the first part of this period, I'll also be on a constant IV drip of chemo, worn in a pack at my side. So the worst is still yet to come, I guess. I am, anyway, still optimistic about a disappearance of the tumour and for a complete recovery.