Hi Friends & Family,

I write this with such a heavy heart. The weight of bad news has collapsed all those things we find familiar in our home and family life. The last 20 years Indra and I have been partners in life, partners in crime, partners in love and music, raising our amazing boys Mikko & Marlon.

All the crazy adventures you can think of, we've probably shared together. I hate to say it but this is another one, unfortunately it’s not going to be fun. Indra has been diagnosed with a Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer that is operable but with over 6 months of treatment chemo and radiation potentially followed by surgery.

On the morning of August 1st Indra collapsed with internal bleeding after clearing out her mom's house who had just passed away from cancer herself. Indra had been in Madison, WI since her mom's diagnosis in May providing her mom with end of life care all while taking care of and assuming guardianship of Brahmi (Peach), her older sister who is non-verbal and alternately abled and requires full time care. Their mother, Velga was Brahmi's full time caretaker until her passing May 26th when Indra took over as Brahmi's guardian.

Indra was preparing to return to California to be with us on Tuesday August 4 but ended up stuck in St. Mary's Hospital in Madison on August 1st for an emergency procedure, tests, diagnostics and healing due to the amount of blood loss from internal bleeding. I had to fly out early Monday morning and was with her at St. Marys hospital in Madison for 5 days until we were able to fly Indra safely back to California. Due to her level of blood loss she needed assistance to fly safely home and has a regimen of iron infusions for severe anemia as of now.

Because of her risk for bleeding and the necessity to act fast, on our return she had to get an Oncologist in Santa Barbara and resume her hospital stay at Cottage hospital for anther 5 days of tests and figuring how to approach the cancer/tumor.

I'll just say that I am so thankful that Indra is still with us and able to have caught this. It's beyond lucky she was staying with her close friends Laurel and John who's quick thinking and taking Indra to the hospital for sure saved her life. The pain of the fear of losing someone you love is not quite like anything else.

We're asking for help with Indra's medical co-pays and for travel and integrative care during her radiation and chemo and potentially surgery. This situation also puts a strain on Indra's shop Lilija she just opened. We are hoping to get counseling for the kids as this is no cakewalk for two teenagers 13 & 15, let alone any adult.

Indra has been up and in good spirits trying to prepare for when her cancer treatment begins in the next week or so. She will be receiving 6 weeks of chemo + radiation therapy, followed by 4 months of IV chemotherapy. We're trying to help her get her strength up, walking and moving, eating super healthy. Her blood count is still very low (they say it can take up to 3 months to replenish)

I’m at a loss, short with words and in shock, lots of tears and doing my best to hold it together. Indra is my best friend, she's kind and gentle and deeply loving, she's got a wicked sense of humor and is an amazing mother, I love creating things with her, music and art and projects. We were starting to work on new Peaking Lights material before she went to Wisconsin in May. We've been talking about how we're going to start playing shows and traveling again when she overcomes this... I love you Indra, we love you Indra.

Thanks for reading and any help is greatly appreciated.