We've started this GoFundMe for our longtime friend Harley Lond, whom we have known since Junior High School days in Los Angeles. We remember Harley as a hard-working yet mischievous student whose shoulder was always there to cry on when someone had a problem. He was smart, funny, and sassy, and always offered a helping hand to others. Now he needs some help -- with mounting medical and living expenses as he was hit with devastating health news.
He's been fighting bladder tumors on and off for seven years now and, until recently, had beaten them back. In September his urologist found a polyp in his bladder and scheduled a TURBT, which is a same-day in-and-out Bladder Tumor Removal Surgery. In November he had his procedure and this time, however, the tumor was malignant, and he was to be referred to an oncologist.
While this was going on, he had to leave his beloved Hollywood (Harley has lived in the LA area for some 70 years) after a run-in with an unscrupulous landlord and, because of the high rents in the area (and his poor credit), he moved to Lancaster with his ex-wife, Marilyn, to a subsidized retirement community. (Marilyn herself has had some setbacks and Harley gave her a lending hand, opening his apartment and giving her support). Because Harley's savings were depleted (much blame to the pandemic and loss of work) he had to borrow money from two high school buddies to make the move -- definitely a tiring, painstaking proposition.
Meanwhile, Harley's urologist dropped the ball and delayed his referral to an oncologist. The New Year came and went and in early January Harley had an attack of sciatica that knocked him out -- so much so that he was taken to the hospital by ambulance. While there -- for more than a week -- he was stuck and pricked and prodded by Torquemadas with medical degrees -- and an MRI to assess the damage to his back revealed some bad news about his bladder tumor -- it was not just a "polyp gone bad" but it was a mass that had obstructed the ureter in his right kidney, partially blocking flow into the bladder -- basically, renal failure. So the nephrologist performed a nephrostomy (basically, a tube inserted into the kidney and out the side of his back into a bag to drain the kidney).
Fortunately, there's a City of Hope in Lancaster/Palmdale, and Harley was hooked up with a urologist and oncologist from there. (He's been seeing so many other specialists he's lost track -- urologist, nephrologist, oncologist, surgical oncologist, neural surgeon, gastrointestinal surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, cardiologist, and a pain manager).
But things got worse. A PET scan in March revealed that there were more cancer sites -- in his colon, thyroid and femur. More tests have been called for -- biopsies -- and he is soon to start a regimen of chemotherapy. His quality of life has been lowered -- he's in constant pain from the kidney tube (in a joke, he told me that, "To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, I'm pretty much living on Norco and vitamin C") and walking around with a plastic bag strapped to his leg is "no fun."
Harley was a long-time editor -- first in the "small press" world of art and literature (InterMedia Magazine) and then at several entertainment magazines and websites. He was a mentor to many other editors, writers and artists, and always was there to help others climb to success. Unfortunately, none of those jobs came with the security of a pension plan, and after he lost his last job (due to the pandemic), his IRA was depleted. He's now solely living off his social security payments and a little independent work on his website, OnVideo.
With the prospect of large medical bills for chemotherapy, and the possibility that his part-time writing will be impacted by the treatment, Harley needs financial assistance. Help Harley pay some outstanding bills (the loans from two high school buddies, past moving expenses) and give him some security for the near future as he goes through these trying times.
Harley has brought joy to the lives of many, many friends, family members (Marilyn; his sister, Monica; his daughter, Lizzie; granddaughter, Dahlia; and grandsons Sawyer and Foster) and strangers. Let's return the favor and help Harley on his road to recovery.
Any amount you can contribute will be greatly appreciated, and if you aren't able to contribute money at this time, please share Harley's story with friends, family, and co-workers.
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This note from Harley:
"The positive news: The results of my second PET scan were very positive -- all the cancer spots had been appreciably diminished and both my oncologist and urologist were quite pleased. That's not to say that the cancer has been beaten -- it is, after all, Stage Four -- so the best we can hope for is to keep it under control for as long as possible.
"It's been an insane couple of months since my diagnosis; I've seen so many specialists and doctors and nurses that my head is spinning. I've been battling cancer on two fronts: the disease itself and a bureaucratic health care system. It started right off when my medical group took weeks to approve visits with specialists (urology, oncology) and then set up a PET scan (which pinpointed the spread of the cancer); then more weeks to approve the chemotherapy. The miscues with doctors and nurses are legion; you can read about it at: http://www.dreamsville.net/my-journey-with-our-complicated-dysfunctional-health-care-system/.
"I've been through eight cycles of chemotherapy so far and the side effects vary from week to week. Thankfully no hair loss (I didn't have much to begin with), just very minor nausea, some upset stomach, some fatigue, occasional dizziness and unsteadiness. In the beginning I developed a horrible rash on my legs (venous ulcers) but my oncologist controlled it by lowering my doses. The worst parts, however, are the loss of feeling in my fingers (neuropathy), the loss of taste (which leads to loss of appetite), dry, flaky skin, and a lack of coordination. In addition to the chemo side effects, the nephrostomy tube (a catheter from my kidney) causes pain and hampers walking. It's been eight months of hell, of 24/7 pain, despondency and crying fits.
"But I'm pushing ahead and still fighting. Trying to get the energy to continue my infamous "Letter from LA," which will now be "Letter from LAncaster." I've been thinking a lot about time/memory/entropy ("The Order of Time" by Carlo Rovelli), the beauty inherent in things ("The Voice of Things" by Francis Ponge) and finished the first volume of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time."
"PS: In addition to any GoFundMe support, it would be helpful if you might be able to:
1) Refer me to a malpractice attorney.
2) Help me find an inexpensive 2 bed-2 bath apartment in Los Angeles -- I sorely miss the bright lights, bright city. I miss Cantor's corned-beef Reubens, Korean rice bowls, Lucifer's pizzas, real Thai food, good Chinese food.
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The results of my latest PET scan came in at the end of November -- just in time to celebrate a broken right femur. Part of the original prognosis was that my bladder cancer had metastasized to various parts of my body, including my right femur. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I was using a walker to get around our apartment and in the middle of the night I tripped, fell off the walker, bounded off a couch, fall onto a coffee table, got hit by the flying walker and split my right femur right in half. A ride to the ER and a CAT scan; pain and the x-ray-showed that the bone broke at a pathological point; i.e., the cancer had weakened the bone to the point where a break was pretty inevitable under the right circumstances. In addition, the PET scan showed that the cancer no longer was receding but had actually increased in some places.
Next stop: hospice. So here I am in a hospital bed in the living room of our apartment. Lizzie, our daughter, has moved in to take care of me 24/7; Marilyn cooks and cleans and keeps me sane; nurses come and go taking my vitals and giving me baths; I'm eating healthy; and, for the most part, thanks to morphine, feel little physical pain. I'm trying to get things in order, and have been compiling notebooks, letters and vignettes to put together a memoir of sorts.
I'm still struggling for money to pay past and forthcoming bills; I also want to grow a small cache of savings for Lizzie and Marilyn to tide them over into the future.
So, in addition to any past or future GoFundMe support, it would be helpful if you might be able to:
1) Refer me to a malpractice attorney. I have been short-changed by our health care system and need to poke the bear to get some reparations ... for Lizzie and Marilyn.
2) Help me put together my memoir: send me tidbits and stories about adventures we may have shared -- big or small.
In the meantime, check out two fragments from my life just recently posted:
1) A gigantic Amazon playlist of long-form rock songs and compositions at:
2) A fabulous recipe I created for Thai Noodle soup using disparate ingredients from supermarket and Trader Joe's shelves:
Happy Holidays.