Calling Debbie from Everest Basecamp...


(photo by Roshan Dipen Bhattarai)

Hi everyone, sorry it's taken awhile to start posting again. I've been back from my trip for about a month now and am just starting to edit my thousands of photos. With the holiday season beginning right when I got home, I haven't yet had a chance to take a deep breath and relax. Please know that I haven't forgotten about this website. If all goes well, this trek is just the beginning of a lifelong journey.

I want to thank everyone for the amazing support during my trek. I can't believe how much money we've raised for cancer research through your generous donations!! From the bottom of my heart, thanks so much! You are wonderful!!

Debbie continues to fight cancer and is currently undergoing her 13th round of chemotherapy. She is a brave and amazing woman and I am beyond happy that she is doing so well. We had a great phone call while I was at Mount Everest Base Camp. Through the amazing technology of a satellite phone, I woke her up in the middle of the night to tell her I had reached my goal. She told me how well she was feeling, how well her cancer had responded to the treatments and that she planned on being around for a long long time. The conversation brought tears to my eyes. (Or was that just the freezing temperatures??) Seriously, it was great. About 7 hours later, hiking by the light of my headlamp to return to camp, I was still energized from our conversation. It was a very difficult, 13 hour day, but worth it in so many ways.

I'm already wondering what my next trek will be. One thing I know for sure is that there will be more treks, so please stay tuned.

In the meantime, please check out my other website, sincityhiker.com, for photos from my trip. Eventually, I'll post some on this website as well.

Happy holidays to everyone. I hope 2009 brings great things to all of you but mostly, a cure for gastric and all other cancers!