I haven't really been maintaining this site, since Dad's basically doing extremely well now. We're pretty sure he's pulled through. He hasn't had an inkling of the leukemia since the first bit of chemotherapy, and we were even able to skip the last treatment. I will try to fix some of the things that need to be fixed here as time permits.
So many people have asked about our father's health while he endured chemotherapy for leukemia that it was somewhat overwhelming. To help out, we thought we'd create this webpage with the latest information we can provide.
Dad was diagnosed with leukemia around the middle of July (type AML). On the following Tuesday he entered Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte for chemotherapy. Would have gone well, but he acquired a staff infection that extended his stay significantly. Still, he recovered from that, and eventually made it home. He had a few more chemotherapy sessions, each one with some kind of unpleasant complication until the last one. He was able to skip the very last session in the series, since his blood counts were on the low side of normal, yet not showing any signs of leukemia.
Many people have asked what they may do to help out. One of the best things you can do, oddly enough, is to consider putting yourself on the bone-marrow registry. It costs $60 unless you can find a corporate sponsor (sometimes that's simply a matter of paying attention to the news and seeing if a registry drive is going on).
If you'd like, you can send Dad e-mail, or write postal mail:
Joe Van Riper 7400 Hubbard Woods Rd. Charlotte, NC 28269
Thursday, 14 Aug 97