The Vermont Muench Family Blog

I am sorry to say that Barb has not had time to update the blog; she has been finishing up her Masters degree! She graduates on May 12th and she has been putting in crazy hours to put the final pieces together. She has also been taking care of me! I fear some night she will smother me with a pillow:-) I am recovering much slower than I like but I am recovering. I am walking on my own and I actually visited each of my classes last week. I am only good for an hour or two and then I am exhausted. It was so good to see my colleagues and my students. Dan DeForest, the girls softball coach, even had me throw out the first pitch of the season. Although I hit home plate (underhanded) I was better than the Mayor of Cincinnati! I am hoping to be back to running by the time we begin basketball camp. I have had great help from all my friends and I know that things will be taken care of no matter what kind of timeline my body gives me. There are too many people to thank personally, but I definitely could not get through this without a lot of help from my friends.

We are getting geared up for another great year at the Bill Muench basketball Camp. For information and application, videos, and pictures go to: http://billmuenchbasketballcamp.com/
This will be our thirteenth year!!

I was in Baltimore when Weston (almost) skimmed across a pond of 32 degree water after skiing half way down Stratton Mt. Here is a picture of Weston in a hot tub after he landed in the water. To see the film of last year's pond skim look below:

Bill and I left for Baltimore in a snowstorm on Easter Sunday. I dropped Weston off at Stratton at 8:30 AM so he could register for the Pond Skim. The snowy weather or 32.7 degree water did not deter Weston from participating alongside his other die-hard Pond Skim friends. Taylor went to church with Mary Lee. Mary Lee was staying home with the boys while we were away. Bill and I packed the car with some clothing, the medicine bucket, and the new MRI scans for Drs. Niparko and Tamargo at Johns Hopkins. We boarded the van and slipped quietly out the driveway pointing the grill south.
I never knew when my brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Cindy, settled in Glen Rock, NJ back in 1979 that their house would become our stage coach stop between Vermont and Baltimore. We reached Don’s house and spent a wonderful night visiting with our niece, Sarah who had just received her first medical school acceptance! My oldest brother, Billy was there too so we had some good family time together ☺
Monday morning we boarded the Scooby Doo bus and continued our trek to Baltimore. Bill’s spirits were high until we ran into traffic on the Jersey turnpike….it was all I could do to keep Bill from leaping for good….traffic kills him more than brain surgery…it was a difficult 45 minutes but Bill managed to survive!
Late in the afternoon we pulled over and found a comfortable Hampton Inn. Bill’s condition attracts lots of attention so we got the best room in the building right next to the ice machine and snack machine. Bill did not feel so energetic so we decided to try a walk to get the circulation going. We found sidewalks outside of our hotel and picked a goal to walk to the big building with the PHYSICAL THERAPY sign….how appropriate, eh? We succeeded and the only disappointment was the cold. Baltimore reached a record low that day of 26 degrees….so much for driving south! At least there was no snow. After a brief rest we walked down the road to dinner to an Italian restaurant/pub. The food was good and inexpensive. We were struck by the stinky ‘smoking’ section in the restaurant. For being a liberal state, Maryland seemed behind the times on the smoking issue. We forgot how nasty smoke is.
Now I mentioned that we walked to the restaurant…I did forget to mention the double land road we had to cross to get there…no cross walk…just wide open roadway with speedsters going up and down. I told Bill to hold on tight and said, “GO!” and tried to pull him across the road….now remember he is DEAF in the left ear and I was on his left side and he thought he heard “NO!” Now it was a tug of war with headlights heading our way….it was a scary moment but we made it across in one piece…on our way back I stood on his right and we figured it out a lot better.
On Tuesday morning we woke up to the news that Donny Gray, drummer for Don’t Leave, had passed away from cancer. Bill had received a get-well card from him on Saturday. That tells you what kind of person Donny was….struggling with his own health he made sure to get a card to Bill. We were very saddened and reflective all morning. Donny was a person who pursued his passion for music and lived his life with vitality and humor.
We packed and made our way to Johns Hopkins. Bill left there as the una--bomber but returned looking more like Keith Richards…a bit haggard but walking. Dr. Niparko took one look at Bill and smiled….he told Bill how great he looked. The new scans showed no more trace of the tumor. We could not be more grateful for his expert dissection of what we learned was a massive tumor. He said that Bill had a 1 and 1000 result from the surgery. He removed Bill’s eye patch with the instruction that it must go back on when the eye is red or dry. We left Dr. Niparko for Dr. Tamargo who gave us just as encouraging news. Bill was healing slowly but surely. Dr. Tamargo reiterated that Bill’s surgery was very draining and that progress is not made in days but weeks. He believed Bill’s facial nerve would be nearly 100%! We discussed Bill’s headaches, and overall exhaustion. Dr. Tamargo reassured us that these were normal results of this type of brain surgery. He felt that Bill had done very well thus far and felt badly that Bill had suffered a set-back with his knee. He told us that Bill’s neck still had normal inflammation but that he was healing. Dr. Tamargo also told us that he had been to the fly fishing school at Orvis before. We were very excited to tell him that we live just miles away! Dr. Tamargo walked us out of the office and with a warm but firm handshake wished us well and another visit in 6 mos. All in all we were very encouraged by the report. Both doctors stressed to Bill not to overdue it but to be confident in his activity.
Bill left Johns Hopkins in the middle of March a very fragile and sick soul. He walked back in slightly shaky and exhausted but remarkably better than his March exit. Exhausted from the trip and effort throughout the day, Bill was ready to crash and get home. We left Baltimore almost as quickly as we had arrived.
Another night in NJ and home today. We spent the afternoon with Mary Lee before Uncle Bill came to whisk her away to Albany for her flight to Florida….now Mary Lee has been the backbone of Bill’s recovery. She has nurtured and cared for Bill, the boys and me. We were sad to see her go and nervous….could we do this without Clara? As Mary Lee left she said she was hanging up her Clara hat. Everything was set…Bill was doing well, the boys were trained (she is amazing with the boys…you should see their rooms, homework folder, and manners!), the house organized and Gus was calm. Mary Lee is heading back to Florida and she plans on FedExing sun and warmth when she gets there! Bill has the best mom, I have the best mother-in-law, and boys the best grandma….thank you Mary Lee for all your love and hard work.

The “Don’t Leave” band wants everyone to send their thoughts and prayers out to our wonderful drummer Donny Gray. He was dealing with cancer and he passed away at 5am this morning. Donny was a man who lived his life by his convictions. No matter how he felt, he never complained and he always came to play when it was showtime! The memories of Donny will last a LONG time.

April 11, 2007

BRIDGEWATER CENTER — Donald M. Gray, 56, died April 9, 2007, at home, with liver cancer.

He was born April 7, 1951, in Holyoke, Mass., and grew up in Haydenville, Mass.

Mr. Gray was a musician, comedian and was the drummer in several local bands throughout his working life. He was a registered conscientious objector, a member of ACLU and the International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers. He was a board member of Vermont Volunteers in Service to Animals and Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

Survivors include a daughter, Josie Gray of Beacon, N.Y., and his longtime companion, Donna Williamson of Bridgewater Center.

There will be a memorial service April 22 at 6pm at Sumitt Lodge in Killington.

Memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers, may be made to Vermont Volunteers in Service to Animals, P.O. Box 100, Bridgewater, VT 05034; and Neighbors Helping Neighbors, P.O. Box 39, Bridgewater, VT 05034.

We are off to Baltimore today with our follow up meeting with the doctors Dr. Niparko and Dr. Tamargo. I have the before and after MRI pictures and Barb will be my chauffer. We are going to her brother Don’s house today to break up the trip. My mother is at the house and she will be in charge of the boys while we are gone. I had a good day yesterday watching The Masters with lots of friends—including Dave, Rich and Lee from “Don’t Leave.”

Let’s see …what new tricks can I do??? I am walking better (still need a spotter on the steps upstairs☺. We are close to taking the patch off my eye as I am almost blinking on my own! Mom has been drilling me with facial exercises so that I don’t look and talk like Edward G. Robinson! Anyway -- off we go...I'll have Barb write the next one!

I think I have turned a corner. I still need a lot of rest, a plastic patch on my left eye, help walking upstairs and chopped up food at meal time BUT I did have my follow-up MRI yesterday and things look good and I hope my surgeons feel the same way. My knee has gotten much better and I have been taking laps around the house. There is officially NO WAY that I could have come this far without Mom and Barb's help every minute of the last four weeks. They have literally carried me through many of the tough times. I am also blown away by the number of calls, cards and emails! I hope that I get to thank each person personally!

Hi everyone,
Billy had a good day. he got up and showered, did his exercises. walked downstairs, ate a good breakfast and rested. This afternoon he went for a ride with Barb to the store and realized he was a little more tired than he thought. Everything is an effort, but he is really fighting his way to get better. His face is much more normal and his speech has improved tremendously. His eye is so close to having the patch removed. (That will be a happy day). We have scheduled the MRI
for Wed. and then we will see if Bill is up to the trip to baltimore. We do have some options. All in all, things are looking up. I will be here for a while yet. We're taking it day by day.Love,
Mom/ Mary Lee