Hello everyone. I hope this note finds you well. You may have noticed a clear decrease in my communications of late. No blogging, no newsletters, no podcasts, and very few daily tweets. Ever since I decided to connect with the larger world I have made it my general practice to not shy away from being personal and talking about myself and my family. It has always felt natural to me. I see no reason to change that now.
Many of you know about my mother Judi. For those who do not, here is the briefest of bios: Judi is 64 years of age, lives happily in Florida, and absolutely loves crocheting blanks for a number of local charities. She’s the greatest. Unfortunately, mom has been diagnosed with stage 4a squamous cell carcinoma (basically, late stage throat cancer). Her odds are decent according to the research. She has just completed her first week of chemotherapy, and, if all goes well, she will complete nine weeks of chemo and then seven more for radiation. Of course, at any time things can develop in an unexpected direction.
I know that so many of you have been touched by this disease. I have heard from more than a few of you. Thanks for sharing your stories. I lost my father to a rare form of stomach cancer nine years ago. Now for the second time I am watching my parent go to battle – and battle she will. If you have been up close and personal with a loved one while they deal with this disease you know precisely where I am: working hard each and every day to see the glass half full and working hard to share that perspective with my mother.
I am so blessed and so lucky. I have so many kind people with whom I have been associated sending warm notes and positive thoughts. Professionally, I have amazing flexibility compared to many such that I have been able to spend most of the last few weeks with Mom. I have a wife who has stepped up magically during the days I cannot be there to help with anything that needs to be handled. I have two amazing boys – just young enough to not really know what Grandma Judi is experiencing and just funny enough to make us smile even in this challenging time.
Finally, I have you: the few thousand wonderfully crazy folks who follow me. You listen to my rants on the podcasts, you retweet my tweets, you read the newsletter and blog, and you show the most amazing kindness when we meet at events where I speak and tell my stories. I have no doubt that this episode with Mom will produce a few more interesting stories to share with others. Fist, however, I need to spend some time focused on just that – getting through this episode as productively as possible. While Dr. Dewett has gone global in the last few years, it is still a one man shop! Thus, aside from a tweet here and there, you are not likely to see much activity from me over the next few months.
Please know that 1) I’ll be back with more energy and insight before you know it, 2) I greatly appreciate your support, and 3) I love my mother! Go tell your mom you love her. Stay positive – see you soon 
Todd
Ps – the picture below of the little pink rubber duck was taken at the cancer clinic where Mom receives her treatment. She of course knows all about my mascot Danny the Devil Duck, so she wanted me to snap this picture. I told her the pink duck likely had horns like Danny, but they fell out during chemo. Mom cracked up. The glass is half full.
