Michael Hagerman in town for a visit

[Ann Totusek]

Michael is with his dad for spring break. As I'm certain many of you
have gathered, he's been recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease. His
first flare up, which is what sent us to specialists to get the
diagnosis, has been, ahem, impressive. The GI doc is planning on
putting him on Remicade- we've just finished the workup pursuant to
that. It suppresses the immune system so that it stops attacking his
own tissues. He can't start it unless he's healthy, which is the goal
of pre-administration work up- to ensure that he doesn't have any
bacterial or fungal infections that could worsen and then leave him
unable to fight because of a suppressed immune system.

He'd like to go participate in Demicon Lite and hang out at Abbas if
that's going on as well. We'd like to ask that if anyone has anything
communicable that they know of to please let us know ahead of time- he
can bring a mask for himself (or for you, or for both) to help keep him
healthy so that the Remicade can start as soon as possible. Yes, we
know that masks aren't a magic bullet, but it's some protection versus
none, and allows him to not be so isolated. No matter how much I might
want to wrap him in bubble wrap and lock him in a positive pressure
room, that's not feasible or reasonable.

Thank you,

Ann Totusek