[projectaon] Good News / Bad News
- From: Jonathan Blake <blake.jon@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Project Aon List <projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 08:40:40 -0700
I just heard from Joe Dever regarding a few issues. It was certainly a
mixture of good news and bad. The relevant bits are:
1) He wanted me to convey his appreciation for our continued progress
on the project. He tries to check in on us at least every three months
or so.
2) Interest in Lone Wolf in the publication world resurges:
"FYI, the French publisher Gallimard has just signed a re-publishing
deal with me for the first 20 LW books. The term is for 7 years and
the series will be relaunched in France in September 2005. All 20 of
the core LW series will hit the shelves over there before Xmas."
3) The copyrights for the layout of the 10th anniversary calendar are
still held by Red Fox. We would need to seek their permission before
publication of an exact reproduction:
"Regards reproduction rights for the 10th anniversary calendar,
copyright for the layout rests with Red Fox. This was a trade-only
calendar, a fact you should point out to Red Fox when seeking
permissions. If you intend for the reproduction to be provided free of
charge to Project Aon users then I don't think Red Fox will have any
issue with you reproducing the calendar, just so long as you
acknowledge their copyright (and say thank you for their
co-operation)."
4) There's now a wikipedia entry for Joe Dever with a near exhaustive
list of the projects that he's been involved with including game
projects post Lone Wolf:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Dever
5) For me, the high point of the message:
"Regards Lone Wolf 21-28, I can confirm that the rights have now
reverted to me. I confirm also that I am happy for you to reproduce
them for Project Aon, as per the previous titles."
6) Followed immediately by the low point. Please respect his privacy.
I don't know how widely he wanted this known, so I would err on the
side of not distributing this news any further than this list:
"On a more serious note, I'm sorry to have to tell you that I've
recently been diagnosed with a serious medical condition that will
require major surgery on June 8th and July 20th. A couple of months
ago I went into hospital to have a kidney stone removed, a fairly
straightforward operation that was carried out without any
complications. Following the operation, I had ultrasound and CT scans
as part of the routine aftercare program. These scans revealed that I
have stage 1 malignant tumors on both of my kidneys. Fortunately, the
scans detected these tumors at an early stage which has undoubtedly
saved my life. Typically these kinds of cancers grow undetected and do
not cause any pain until they are in Stage 4 development, by which
time they are already spreading to other body sites, making it very
difficult to save the patient.
"On June 8th I will undergo a partial nephrectomy to my right kidney.
My surgical team will attempt to remove the tumor and leave as much of
the remaining tissue intact so that I will retain at least 50% kidney
function on that side. It will be a major invasive surgery and their
prognosis for the success of the operation is 60% positive. The
prognosis regards my left kidney is not so good. The location of the
tumor (close to major veins & arteries) prevents any hope of saving
it, and so I'll need to go back into hospital on July 20th for a
radical nephrectomy (removal of this kidney). Best case scenario for
me is that the first operation will be successful. Humans are
over-provisioned in the kidney department and can function without any
adverse problems on just 30% of one kidney. If the first op fails and
they have to remove the kidney, then they will prepare me for dialysis
while I'm healing up from the operation so that I can go straight onto
machine dialysis as soon as the second kidney is removed. Fortunately,
I have two very healthy children (aged 18 & 24) who will make for
ideal donor prospects if I do lose both kidneys. However, the earliest
that a child-parent transplant can take place after bi-lateral radical
nephrectomy is two months, so in this scenario I would have to rely on
daily machine dialysis for 8-10 weeks before I'm fit enough to receive
the transplant. God willing, the first operation will be successful
and the need for subsequent dialysis and a kidney transplant will be
unnecessary.
"You have my permission to convey news of my medical condition to the
Project Aon members. It would greatly improve my mental resolve to
face this challenge knowing that I have their kind thoughts and best
wishes when I go under the knife. Surgery is presently scheduled for
13:00 GMT on June 8th. I will be in an intensive care ward for two
days following the operation, then I will remain in hospital for about
10 days afterwards until I'm fit enough to go home. I will, of course,
inform you if there is any change to this agenda."
--
Jon
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