A Plea for your Assistance

By Howard Axelrod, 34-time traveler from Ashland, MA

Fellow O.A.T. Travelers,

We desperately need your assistance. PLEASE help us. I am a 34-time O.A.T. traveler and over the years have published many articles in the Inside Scoop about the wonderful travel experiences that my wife and I have had on these life-changing journeys. I have not written anything in many months, as my world has suddenly taken a dark and nightmarish turn. I am physically and emotionally consumed these days with my wife’s cancer care. Yes, cancer. The “Big C”—what we all fear the most. 40% of us will be diagnosed in our lifetime with cancer in some form, from fully curable or treatable to life ending. My wife is a very private person and as such I will leave her name out of this request. Our story is a sad and desperate one, and as such I am asking for your help.

Daschoilin Monastery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Last March at our beautiful rental unit in Florida I sat across the breakfast table from my amazing, accomplished, and loving wife of 33 years, and as usual, her beautiful brown eyes melted my heart. It was a beautiful morning. Warm sun filtered in through the blinds, the coffee was hot, and our plates were adorned with a colorful array of fresh tropical fruit. We were both healthy and vibrant then. I looked at this woman who has been my wife, best friend, and muse for over three decades and said “Sweetheart, I am 77 years old and have never been happier in my life.” She smiled and replied, “me too.” Life was just SO wonderful then. It was blissful!

We have had a magnificent idyllic marriage, having shared our love of books, music, culture, art, and travel, and pursuing these joys together over the decades. We journeyed together to six continents, learning about this amazing world, its unbelievable wonders, and its people and their customs and lives. We attended concerts, took music cruises, went to museums and lectures, and wintered in coastal Florida. Life was indeed beautiful. We felt blessed. We WERE blessed. We truly had never been happier in our lives. After 33 years together we were more in love and committed to one another than ever. Our marriage and our beautiful life together have been the highlight of my existence. Then tragedy struck.

Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

In April, my wife had what was initially diagnosed as constipation and indigestion. It turned out to be inoperable stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer! Metastatic—having invaded other body organs. Initially we were in disbelief. We have since been told by numerous cancer specialists that this disease would soon end her life. Stage 4 pancreatic cancer is incurable. This is a disease that affects less than 6 people out of 100,000 (not a typo) worldwide each year. Repeat—less than 6 people per 100,000! That is 1 in 17,241 to be exact. It is the most difficult of all cancers to treat and is the one with the highest mortality rate and shortest survival time. Because the pancreas lies deep in the body cavity, by the time one is symptomatic, 80% of the cases are either stage 3 or stage 4. Major arterial involvement is common as in my wife’s case, ruling out surgery as an option. Neither of us was, nor is, ready for this. Our situation has taken all the joy from our lives and left us painfully depressed and fearful. We are travelling on a dark road.

Moai statues with backs to the sea, Easter Island, Chile

I have contacted over 50 pancreatic cancer specialists (Oncologists, Radiologists, Surgeons, and researchers) over the past 6 months at the leading cancer hospitals, universities, and research institutes locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, in search of the latest treatments that show efficacy, with unfortunately, little tangible results to show for my efforts.

Let me tell you about my wife. A more perfect example of a high-quality human being would be hard to find. She is beautiful, intelligent, generous, thoughtful, and loving to all. She graduated from the highest ranked Occupational Therapy school in the country. As one of the first Pediatric Occupational Therapists in the Massachusetts Public School System, over the course of her career has helped more than two thousand children and their families lead better lives. She was a dedicated, caring, creative, and commensurate professional, who was loved by all. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments. She deserves a full life more than anyone I know.

While in Florida early last winter, before tragedy struck, we decided to get more involved in the local community and its civic affairs when we returned home to Massachusetts. There is so much that needs to be done to make the world a better place, and there was no better place to start than in our own town. Additionally, we had decided to learn to play the piano to keep our mental faculties sharp as we aged. We had several amazing international trips planned and paid for, as well as many concert tickets in hand, and another music cruise booked when we returned to Florida for the winter of 2026. The future looked so bright and promising then.

The ancient city of Petra, Jordan

None of this is going to happen: no civic involvement, no piano lessons, no international travel, no concerts, no music cruises, no return to Florida for the winter—no anything other than doctors, medications, MRI, CAT and PET scans, and dehumanizing chemotherapy that leaves my wife sick, helpless, and bedridden for a week after each treatment, and leaves me in an uncontrollable flood of tears. Already a small woman, she has lost 40 pounds and aged a decade, the result of the combined effects of advancing cancer and the physical toll of the high potency chemicals infused into her tiny body though a surgically implanted valve in her chest. This treatment will not cure her but will “theoretically” lengthen her life a few months and hopefully help with management of this disease’s horrific symptoms. There is only a 30% chance that the 12 chemotherapy treatments she is currently undergoing will do this. These treatments are done at the cost of many weeks of debilitating pain, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and intense fatigue. It is heartbreaking for me to watch. I often question this tradeoff, but the choice is not mine to make. Treatment is about the “possibility” of a few months of life extension and quality. Unfortunately, there is no known cure for metastatic pancreatic cancer. There are no words that could possibly express the pain in my heart when I am told this.

Why my wife? She was a healthy vibrant woman of 72 years of age, vegetarian, with no illnesses or medical conditions, on no medications, of normal weight, who exercised 4 times per week and walked every day. She never smoked, drank, or used drugs. She has no history of any type of cancer in her family. She was as cognitively sharp as ever. She was the picture of health and happiness. She loved life, and the world around her. I love her and cannot imagine life without her.

Why her? I am not asking reader for an answer to this question. It is a question that I ask to whom (?) I do not know. It is a question that I will never have an answer to. This kind, gentle and caring soul does not deserve a fate such as this. I am a believer in a supreme being or governing force and his / her / its limitless powers. Over the decades I gave thanks many times each day for the wonderful prosperous and healthy life that my wife and I had been blessed with. I prayed for it to continue. I asked for no more than that. I KNOW my prayers were answered when I asked for a woman to create happiness and security in my life 33 years ago, and this remarkable woman miraculously appeared.

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Japan

We are not afraid of death. We are practical people and know it comes to all living things. Being healthy in our 70’s, we had assumed that it would come in a natural way, not with suddenness. A supreme power created a miracle by bringing my wife and I together 33 years ago. I now ask this same power for another miracle that will keep her in my world. Despite our situation I continue to believe that this same power can create another miracle for us.

This is where you, fellow traveler, come in. I believe that you can make an impact on our situation. There are many deeply spiritual and holy places on this earth. Ancient sites like Machu Picchu in Peru, Petra in Jordan, and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, sacred cities like Varanasi in India, Kyoto and Nara in Japan and Jerusalem and Nazareth in Israel, monasteries such as the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Lourdes in France, the Vatican, Mecca, Stonehenge, Easter Island, a lengthy list of temples in India, Nepal and Tibet, churches, synagogues, monasteries, and mosques across the globe, as well as the Ganges, Jordan, and Nile rivers, are all holy places that emit powerful energy. There are many others. Having traveled to most of these, I can assure you that the feeling one experiences at these spiritual locations is undeniably powerful and palpable. In these sacred and holy sites, one feels closer to a higher power, regardless of what religion you practice, or do not.

The Hindu Temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

I love my wife and am not ready to burn the ships yet. I remain a believer in a higher power and the power of prayer. Prayer is the last option available to us. It IS, however, an immensely powerful one. If prayer and the sacred and holy places on the planet are combined, an effect that is greater than the sum of the parts is logical and possible. I believe this with every fiber of my being. I have written a request to the higher power for one more miracle in my lifetime. If you are traveling to any of the many holy or spiritual places on this planet, I am asking you to deliver it for me. It can be placed in the cracks of a building, left under a rock, placed in the branches of a bush or tree, left with the spiritual leader in a church, synagogue, monastery, or mosque, or even placed adrift in a river. Your efforts CAN make a difference. If you are willing to do this, please send an email to me at [email protected] and I will send you my request to the miracle maker. You do the rest. Help me save my wife. She is my oxygen. She is my everything. Help bring a miracle to us. I continue to believe that each of you can make a difference. I am asking for your help. Howie A.

The prehistoric megalithic structure of Stonehenge, England

Tiger’s Nest Monastery, Bhutan

Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal

Howie A. is an Ashland, MA resident, travel photographer, writer, and former high technology executive. He has photographed in 116 countries on all seven continents and has travelled to 42 of the U.S. states.