November 10, 2025

It is with a heavy heart that I have to put another one of these letters together. Especially this close to the holidays. As many know, I was the recipient of a miracle back in January of this year. The miracle had many layers, one layer being a bilateral lung transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Recovery from this momentous surgery was difficult and required constant monitoring, but was going great. I had returned to work at the Sugarbush Resort Golf Club and was lucky enough to be able to play a few holes each week. During a weekly blood test, it was discovered that my Red Blood cell, White Blood cell, Hemoglobin, platelets, and just about everything in a Complete Blood Cell count test was very low. The only symptom I had was fatigue when moving around.

I started receiving blood transfusions immediately and was hospitalized within a couple of days at CVMC. The belief at this point was that the plethora of anti-rejection meds had had an effect on my system, causing this problem. I was transferred back to MGH, and most of the meds were held. Hoping that this would solve the issue.

Unfortunately, there was no improvement. A bone marrow biopsy was scheduled, and the tests came back with terrifying news. I have contracted Leukemia, in the form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia, or AML. It is a very aggressive form and has a history of returning time after time, even after a remission. With the help of the amazing Oncology staff at MGH, we were referred to a great team at Dartmouth. Began outpatient treatment there at the end of September.

I started a 21-day regimen of oral chemotherapy pills on 10/1, with the hope that the next biopsy would show an improvement. On 10/27, the results came back with no improvement, a slight increase in leukemia cells. In a cruel twist, that night I started feeling pretty lousy, with a heavy cough and fatigue.

The next day, I was hospitalized at CVMC, and given a CT Scan. This showed shadows on my lungs, indicative of Pneumonia. The Oncology Team wanted me back at Dartmouth, so early in the morning on the 29th, off we went. Standard treatment of Pneumonia began that night.

In the next couple of days after admission, we had a difficult talk with our Oncologist. His experience with these powerful Chemo pills is that if there is no change after one round, there probably is not going to be. This was confirmed by the team at MGH. Coupled with the leukemia knocking down my immune system, and the need for anti-rejections meds still, the outlook is not very good.

After many long, heartfelt talks, Siobhan and I have made the decision to suspend Chemotherapy treatments and attempt to improve my quality of life. There will be no extraordinary measures, and we are now patients of Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice. Currently, I am home and getting affairs in order.

One of the many things I worry about is making sure my final expenses are taken care of and my family doesn’t have to worry about paying any hospital bills or things like that. I ask from the bottom of my heart to donate whatever amount you can so this one worry is wiped off our plate.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or thoughts.

Thank you for your time and generosity,

JP