April 14th 2005

Hello again everyone,

I hope this e-mail finds you all well and refreshed after a long winter. I wanted to write to you all and give you updates on both Todd and on something that has been in the works since last July.

First of all, Todd is doing much better. It could just be perfect timing but now that baseball season is back in full swing Todd has regained the bounce in his step and the smile on his face.

As you know, Todd spent the past 2 months in bed as he tried to recover as best he could. The recovery process was the biggest challenge we faced over the past 9 months and we are so thankful that it seems to be behind us. We met with Todd's local oncologist a few days ago and he was extremely pleased with the surgery results. He feels that Todd will need to go back on some preventative chemotherapy but wants to give Todd's body a chance to fully recover before doing so. Todd lost about 30 pounds from the surgery, chemotherapy, and recovery so our main goal is to have him put as much weight back on before we even think about more chemo.

Physically, Todd is feeling a lot better. He still is pretty sore from the surgery but he is making strides each day. We are finally back in our house as of last night and we just got back from a short bike ride around town. As for Todd's fight against cancer, well that seems to be somewhat of a gray matter. At this point, the doctors feel quite confident that there are no remaining tumors in Todd's body. However, they have expressed to us that Todd's cancer will likely come back. But, we'll cross that bridge when (or if) we come to it. For now, we are just planning to enjoy life and live a whole lot. There are so many things to look forward to: baseball games, the summer, and raising the cup with you all on July 23rd as we celebrate Todd's victory.

Speaking of July 23rd, I have news to report on the nonprofit organization "Seas It" that we founded in February to promote recovery through recreation for cancer patients and their families. It all started from an incident that happened when Todd was first diagnosed. As you may remember, Todd and I went to Dana Farber last July and the prognosis we received was not good at all. Like the scrappy fighter he is, Todd defiantly announced "Well, in a year from now we should have a F.U to Dana Farber party because I plan to be alive and well by then!"

Well, the idea has since snowballed. Because Todd's amazing attitude and active approach to his treatment inspired the formation of "Seas It," we hoped that the party we're planning could not only be a celebration of him and his battle, but also a fundraiser for the cause. We decided to name the event the "Team Gov Invitational," and have it be an all-day party at the beach with lots of activities in the spirit of "Seizing the day" as Todd has done since that date last July. If you haven't already, we hope you will mark July 23rd on your calendars and be a part of the first annual Team Gov Invitational. We'll be sending more information and registration forms in the mail in the coming weeks. In the meantime, to learn more, please go to www.seasit.org. And, as always, thanks for your continuous support.

Take Care,

Amanda