chemo #6 almost

hello,
well, actually, there hasn't been a chemo #6 yet, since Margi's WBC (white blood count) was too low for them to safely give the chemo. so she had an extra night in the hospital and was given some IV solutions to help boost her system and then will have the chemo today, pending results from the lab.

it is surprising that her count was low, since she seems to be doing ok (no fever, no diarrhea). she did have a couple of tougher days this past time in D'sala with some diarrhea and a short-lived fever, but that had seemed to pass without incident, so it leaves us all a bit perplexed. Margi was thinking that the insecticide spray at the hotel might have contributed to her not feeling so well....just too much for her system to handle with chemo and everything else.

they did a chest xray yesterday, but that was clear. she has been feeling more lightheaded these past couple of weeks, but that doesn't seem to be related to the low WBC count, according to the doctors. when i spoke to her this morning, she was feeling better, so the IV has done something good.

Margi is entertaining herself at the hospital while i am running around trying to do the last minute things before i leave. thank goodness Deane is coming so that Margi will have someone to be with her when i leave! their train tickets have been changed to Sunday night to accomodate the chemo schedule. it will be a hot couple of days for Deane, but there is AC to retreat so i'm sure she'll be entertained with all that is around here.

i've contacted her friends here in Delhi, so they know that she might need some support in the next few days before she leaves for D'sala. and Brian has been alerted as well. so all support is in line!!!! hurray.

it is hard for me to leave at such a point. i was really intending to see her through the last and final chemo and make sure all things were good before leaving. but the wheels are in motion, and i have to get going. i'm glad that i know she is in good hands though, so it will be ok. the Hotel is a wonderful place for her, we have been so lucky.

i will be stateside by the end of June. yikes. i've been in the "Margi bubble" for awhile now, the US will be another shock again.

so now i will be one of the blog watchers waiting for updates and info!
until then,
cm

Leaving the mountains

Tomorrow Margi and I will leave Dharamsala for Delhi - me to prepare to fly back to California on Friday, Margi to get ready for chemo #6, scheduled for Monday. Carolyn will join us in Delhi, and will be with Margi through chemo #6 and just after; another California friend, Deane, will join Margi the night of June 14, then train back to Dharamsala with her on June 15, the same night Carolyn flies back to the U.S. It was serendipitous (and very kind) of Deane to reschedule her arrival from June 19 to June 14, to connect with Margi in time to travel with her back to the mountains.

It's been a lovely and rich time for me here. I will think about these three weeks for a long time. Here's a poem written in the first few days of being at Pema Thang Guesthouse. It's based on a partial fallacy (if you look really, really hard, you can see that the blue prayerflags on the horizon actually do still have some words on them, albeit very faded), but I stand by my false premise.

PEMA THANG

All the words have drained
from blue prayerflags
encircling the guesthouse.

Faded by wind and rain,
they move beyond description.
Line ends tethered to the roof peak

suspend pink yellow green
sheets still wearing pleas,
but on horizon line

turquoise pages float
blank and eloquent
before pines, misty valley.

Weather Report

Yesterday was sunny and a little hot (Dharamsala hot, not Delhi hot), and Margi was feeling good in early afternoon, so we went to Bhagsu and did the walk up to the waterfall. Margi wants everybody who's done the walk with her before to know that the pool at the bottom of the waterfall was really full, deep enough that it was shoulder height on a (short) Korean man who alternately stood posing for photographs and swimming about.

We spent some quiet time on her favorite rectangular rock slab above the cascades, listening to the water, then visited her friend Aju at his chai shop nearby for a cup of delicious extra-ginger chai.

Today began sunny, then turned to early afternoon rain, lightning and thunder. I've just been out walking around the temple grounds, now that the rain has stopped, after a morning of writing in my room.

It's beautiful here, and we're having a good time, and Margi obviously thrives in this environment. She still has some days of weakness and illness, with the aftereffects of the chemotherapy and general bodily depletion, but she also has many very good days, like yesterday.

At Pema Thang

We're settled into rooms at one of Margi's favorite guesthouses, Pema Thang. We transfered there from Angus's house yesterday afternoon.

After walking around the temple grounds on the hill below and opposite the guesthouse yesterday afternoon, and having dinner at a restaurant not far from Pema Thang, we separated with the idea that we'll meet up for dinner tonight.

Those of you who have been here know that if Margi is walking all the way to the temple grounds, and up and down the steep hills without trouble, she's doing just fine. She's eager to get back to making collages, and in fact may have started that today.

I now refer to where we are as "Dorlindia." Margi and I became friends at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony 13 years ago. We've agreed we'll have plenty of separate private time in which to do our work. We also made a ground rule, though, that if she needs something at times we aren't planning to be together, she'll call me.

She looks great, she's eating well, she seems completely recovered from the bug that bit her just before we left Delhi.

In McLeod Ganj

Just a quick note to let you know we arrived safely in McLeod Ganj. Margi had a hard time on the train this time because she was seriously depleted and feeling unwell - she blames it on the insecticide sprayed in the hotel corridor the day before we left the Prince Polonia, on top of chemo #5. I didn't realize how weak she was feeling until after my first India post. She has given me permission to tell you about her swan dive backwards in the middle of the night - the most graceful faint imaginable, crumpling backward so that her head landed gently on the Salman Rushdie novel conveniently placed about five feet inside the door. Neither of us slept a great deal on the overnight train, her from indigestion, achy body and general debilitation, me from concern that she might tumble down again.

However, now we are safely enconsced at Angus's beautiful house above the town, and after resting all day yesterday her appetite has perked up, she's looking much better, and we've even gone for two short walks together.

Day after tomorrow we'll move to the Pema Thang guesthouse in town, but for now we have an idyllic spot up the mountain, a good place to rest, rejuvenate, and read (the three rs).

leaving Delhi

hello hello,
well, i have just said goodbye to Margi and Penelope and will miss all the adventures that they will be having! it was nice to hear Penelope's reactions to India since i'm so used to the oddities (like becoming an attraction just because you're a foreigner)and the auto rickshaw wild rides.

i'm sure that Penelope will love Dharamsala as much as Margi does and will appreciate having the quiet time to write and relax after the few hot and busy days in Delhi.

i leave tomorrow morning for another town in the foothills of the Himalayas called Shimla. well, actually i am going to Dolanji, which is south of Shimla. it is the where the Menri Monastery is located. The Menri Monastery is the home of the Tibetan Bon (the indigenous Tibetan religion)and there is also an orphanage and school for the children. www.bonchildrenshome.com if you want to get more information.

i became involved with this group through my volunteer work at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Latri Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, the administrator of BCH, has given a couple of talks at Pacific Asia Museum on the Bon tradition. so, i figured, while i was in the neighborhood (so to speak), i would visit them! i'm looking forward to seeing the town and their organization.

i am also hoping to visit Shimla and some of the towns in the area, but am leaving my plans open to see how it goes. Shimla was the summer capital of the British Raj and is supposed to be nice.

i will come back to Delhi when Margi and Penelope return and will be here for Chemo #6 and then will be flying back to LA.

but for now i'm back on the road. i'll be missing my traveling companions but am looking forward to getting out of the heat and congestion again and seeing something new!
cm

In Delhi

I was delighted to see how well Margi seems. The morning of my arrival she had just had chemo #5 (she promises to post to the blog about this soon), which went smoothly. She was bright-eyed and luminous, just as she has always been. And not even skinny! She's been eating well, and is normal weight.

In Delhi she stays in her room to rest and recuperate, and it's obviously good for her to do that here. It's true what I've been told: Delhi is hot, dusty and crowded. But I've had kind guides (Jennifer and Carolyn) to take me places the last two days. Jennifer flew home night before last. I was very happy to meet her.

This evening Margi and I depart on the night train to the town at the foot of the Himalayas where the train ends. When we get there tomorrow morning, there will be a taxi (already arranged) to take us up to Dharamsala. For the first few days we'll stay at the home of her friend Angus, then transfer to a guesthouse in the town. I'm looking forward to pine forest inhabited by monkeys, cooler weather, and natural beauty at Angus's. Carolyn leaves Delhi in a couple of days to visit friends at a monastery. We'll see her again around June 8, when we return to Delhi.

I've actually enjoyed - in a hot, sweaty kind of way - seeing some of Delhi, experiencing several autorickshaw rides (the drivers truly do believe they're immortal, and it's best for the passengers to adopt the same attitude), visiting the Red Fort and the Rajgat, being viewed myself as a tourist attraction (Indians kept sidling up at the Rajgat and asking to take pictures of themselves with me - something about my height, gray hair and fierce face, I guess), and having some wonderful Indian food. Most of all, it's great to see how far Margi has come since the diagnosis.

Flying out this Thursday

Looking forward to my flight to New Delhi on Thursday, May 18. Well, okay, I'm not looking forward to the actual FLIGHT so much. But I'm excited about seeing Margi and Carolyn, and meeting Jennifer, and experiencing India for the first time. I'll be there until June 9. I'll try to post some news before long.

Margi DVD available now

Copies of the film I made about margi's work in Kathmandu in 2003 are now available. The DVD includes slide shows of her time in Nepal and her work and music from the film, available nowhere else. Price: $20 plus $5 for postage and handling. Proceeds to Margi.
e mail danielglak@gmail.com for more details.

FUNraising pictures!

Thanks everyone who joined in the festivities Sunday night. It was really good to get to get together.

Back in Delhi

Just a brief note to let you know that we are back in Delhi and headed for the hospital tomorrow for the ct scan, followed by chemo #4. We will be celebtrating Carolyn's birthday in the hospital.

For those of you that made it to the FUNdraiser, we hope you had a lovely time. I can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories.

Old news for some

March 23

We went to McCleod Ganj today and circumambulated the Dalai Lama’s temple. I believe tomorrow is the last day of his teachings, but as we came close to the temple, we could hear him talking and chanting. So many Tibetan monks are here now with their burgundy robes on. Everyone who does not understand Tibetan is wearing head phones in order to hear the radio broadcasts in different languages. We went to visit an old friend of Margi’s who works at a beauty parlor and got Margi’s head shaved so that the remaining scraggles of hair are gone and then, we got MY head shaved so that she is not alone. My ears stick out a bit, but we are two of a kind. It was a fun experience and Margi is really really happy about it. She appreciates it exactly the way I thought that she would, which of course makes it worth all the odd growing out phases to come. Unfortunately, I can feel the cold more thoroughly at night without hair. I can’t stop touching my head. How bizarre that it is me. I almost feel as if I will wake up tomorrow morning and have the same hair that I woke up with this morning. We are keeping it a secret for the time being. We all think that it will be well worth the shock value and the look on Dad’s face when he comes in a couple weeks. Margi and I are having a race to see whose hair will grow back more quickly. I am afraid that I have a bit of an advantage over her… Brrr… I wish I had flannel sheets… Haven’t longed for those in a while! Another benefit to me having shaved my head is the fact that now Margi is associating the tingling and prickling on her head with the fact that she is bald and not the chemicals coursing through her body. Because, of course, I am having a similar experience.



I wrote this a month ago, but chose not to share it until now as we thought it would be fun to have a surprise waiting for Dad (Jackie) when he came to visit. It is warmer at night now and my head has become a big fuzzball. I am debating whether to go ahead and face the awkwardness to come or to delay it another month by shaving my head again. Either way, I am clearly winning the grow-out race. I wish that our hair would grow together, but I am confident that it is only a matter of time before she catches up. It is interesting to look back at the pictures. In some, all you can see is Rosie’s brown hand against the white skin of a freshly shaven head. With no face in the photo, the only way you can tell us apart is by the color of our own skin. Where she is golden, I am rosy. She has gotten a henna tattoo covering the whole of her head. It really is beautiful. Too bad it has been so rainy this past week. She hides the design beneath a scarf.

a quick stop in Delhi

hello!
i am back in Delhi after a quick trip to Nepal to visit friends in the town that i was a Peace Corps Volunteer. it was nice to see that everyone was doing fine despite the political difficulties.

i met Jack at the train station early on the morning of the 18th. it was easy to recognise him since he was the only western face there!

we spent the morning visiting the Red Fort in Old Delhi. an impressive complex built in the mid 1600s by the Mughal King, Shah Jahan, the same King who built the Taj Mahal.

Jack wanted to do some gift shopping, so we braved the crowded, hot streets of Old Delhi and found everything that he needed.

a siesta was in order after all our shopping was done, so a cool airconditioned room was a welcome haven! yea Hotel Prince Polonia!

Jack's flight was later in the evening and after a whirlwind week in India, he was on his way home to familiar sights, sounds and foods!

i will head for the cooler hills again tonight and spend a few days in Rishikesh, the place made famous by the Beatles in the 70s. then i will be back in Delhi in time for Chemo #4 and join forces again with Margi and Jennifer.

so, until then.....
cm

FUNdraiser for Margi

Hi all -
So everything's underway for the party - thanks to Jeanie Lytle for stepping up with some needed assistance.
If anyone is interested in donating some refreshments please contact me (Susan) sebarnet02@hotmail.com, or Elizabeta (elizabeta@overtones.org)
I think it's gonna be a lot of fun and I know that's exactly what margi wants!
Susan

joy and a little business

First of all, on behalf of the entire Margi Scharff community, for that it what it is, can I express joy and thanks to all upon and above this terra firma who/that have helped our friend along. Much more friendship to come Margi, many many years of it.

Secondly, I am finally completing to a high polish the film that I did with Margi in 2004, "Rangi Changi, the color of art". This -- I hope -- shows Margi at her best and just how she accomplishes those amazing works of her's. My hope is to have the film read on DVD to show at the FUNdraiser later this month.

I welcome suggestions now. Since it it is also a FUNDraiser, I propose to make copies of the DVD and sell them with proceeds to whatever Margi and her blessed caregivers deem worthwhile. If all goes according to plan, the DVD will have a 15 minute film, a slide show of images of Margi's work from Nepal and some music files of stray tunes from the film.

Do people think this is a good idea? Margi? If so, what price? $20 per DVD? $15? It's all for the cause. I'll ship a collection of DVDs to the gallery and have them available with me as well for the price plus shipping. All willing that is...

Daniel Lak
danielglak@gmail.com

One foot in front of the other

So, chemo day has come and gone. The day itself went really smoothly. The doctors and nurses love her! We took some fun (yes, fun in the hospital!) photos that we will share soon. Margi is feeling a bit weak today, but yesterday, she had a great day. I think that makes today a little bit harder for her, but I am just glad that the good days so strongly outnumber the bad. In fact, we heard some really encouraging news from the doctors. HOWEVER, I am going to make you wait to hear it from Margi. ;) Don't be mad--I promise it's worth the wait.

Oh, Margi wanted me to make sure you all knew that the fundraiser better be a FUNdraiser! We are all looking forward to hearing about it. In fact, April 26 is the next hospital appt so it will give us something exciting to focus on. Wish I could be there....

Carolyn is taking off for Nepal this evening to give us "family time". I think she's just scared to be more outnumbered by Scharffs than she already is! She is actually going back to visit her old Peace Corps village, just over the border and I am insanely jealous. One day...

Fundraiser for Margi (click here)

Just a heads up to all - Elizabeta Betinski of Overtones Gallery will be hosting a fundraising event for Margi on Sunday April 23rd from 7 - 11 pm. Overtones gallery is at 11306 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90066 t: 310.915.0346. There will be many of Margi's road collages available- including some from her recent journey. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Margi to help defray some of the cost of her medical biils. ALSO - there will be special images and video directly from Margi herself in India.
I hope you all can make it!
Susan

Countdown to chemo #3

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are back to the original phone number that Susan posted. (+91 9899508455) It's local for Delhi, so it's more convenient for us
to have while we are here.

Margi received a really nice letter this morning from a fellow artist and ovarian cancer (stage iv) survivor. She uses trash for her art as well, so it was a nice connection to make and very uplifting as she told how she underwent 10 chemo doses (same as Margi) and has now been cancer-free for 9 years.

Think of Margi in the next few days as she feels the effects of chemo #3.

back to Delhi

we arrived early on the morning of the 5th after a pleasant but uneventful (in comparison to the jeep ride to Dharamsala)overnite train ride.

we celebrated Jennifer's birthday with a song, chocolate birthday cake and presents. the other passenger in our car, a Indian man from the army, enjoyed the festivities as well. it was an unusual trip in that the car that we were in was nearly empty! unheard of in India!

but we are back to the Hotel Prince Polonia and it was like coming 'home' to familiar, friendly faces and the 'hood'. the heat and pollution is still unpleasant, almost unbearable, but at least we feel welcome here.

Margi will be going to the hospital tomorrow evening and will stay overnite rather than go as an outpatient. this way she will have the same nurses that she felt comfortable with the first time and the labs can be done in the morning before the chemo treatments. it will reduce some of the anxiety in an already anxious situation. both Jennifer and I will be there for the 'chemo party' and she has also invited her Delhi friends to come and help take her mind off the fact that she is doing this. she'd rather be laughing than thinking about what she is doing, or more acurately, what the chemo is doing.

we'll have a couple of days post chemo to recuperate and then Margi's brother is flying in. i'm sure we will have more adventure stories when he comes. but for right now, it's lay low, stay out of the heat and do the chemo thing!

cm

pictures from visiting margi