Andy fights dual cancers

 

In Maine, Sept. 2023

Dear friends,

On June 24, 2026 Andy was diagnosed with not one but two cancers; myelo fibrosis (a disorder of the bone marrow) and indolent b-cell lymphoma.

Andy is rare in this way; these two issues developed independently of each other and with genomic mutation called TET2. 

The most common mutation is JAK2, for which many people take Jak-inhibitor drugs.  This disorder has caused his spleen to enlarge to almost 3 times the normal size (the largest the hematology/oncology fellow had ever seen) Although, she did tell us a colleague of hers said he saw one a smidge larger.  (*Andy was sad he had been de-throned as "SPLEEN KING"!) 

 His prognosis is 4.5 years if the treatments are ineffective. 

However, we refuse to believe it will go that way, and we know he can beat this.

 

Joe & Kate's wedding, Oct. 2024 

Our family is dealing with this as best we can, and the boys and their wives are being supremely strong about the situation.  Our friends and community as well, for which we could not be more grateful.

I'll continue to update here.

 

 

In Florida with Caitlyn, Feb. 2026

Many people have generously asked how they can help - and we are more appreciative than words can express for that sentiment.

Andy’s GoFundMe:

https://gofund.me/a90c7fb13

 

Andy being dance-bombed by Matt & Mr. Mars

In the meantime, as in Andy's boxing days, and when he used to coach at the Boys & Girls Club, we will keep fighting and keep our chins up.

Please keep him in your prayers and much love to you,

Thanks again,

Veronica (& Andy) Fish

Andy feeding birds in Florida, 2025

PS

My previous blog was deleted in the big Google-purge of 2022, which made me sad because so many memories from as early as 2007 were in there, and I wish now in light of recent circumstances I could go back and relive them.  Especially since the first post was a date night at a fast food place across the street from the hospital we now find ourselves living in periodically.  Being in this club is not one he wants to be in, but we will appreciate every moment, and stick together.

"Everybody's Free" / The Sunscreen Song (full version)

"Everybody's Free To Wear Sun Screen" (full version)

 This song helps my soul every time I hear it. 

Hope it helps someone out there, too.

Month recap: LCD Soundsystem, North Carolina trip, & Scary Pockets

 Well it's been quite a month, between work, travel and family, lots of stuff to catch up on.

Had a pact with family to see LCD Soundsystem should they get back together again and tour - and wouldn't you know it - they did!

It was honestly an absolutely fantastic experience that was even better shared.

Here's a fun video taken from the opening song of the concert:

(I can't even describe how INTENSE the bass was!  My ribs were vibrating!)

I love the lyrics to so many of these songs, but "tonite" is a particular favorite.

We also welcomed a little lady into the family, she's the sweetest:

I took on a bunch of cover work for a few comic book publishers (more on that when I can show the art) as well as an updated logo and t-shirt for our friend's restaurant Uxlocale.  Andy and I are also deep into pages for a few projects, Andy with Makimono and Penguin, and me with Penguin Random House and some indie stuff.

I went to visit family for a week, which was a lovely experience and really good for the heart and soul.  More relatives came in and we had a great time with a large group of us, my sister and her husband being excellent hosts and all around great people.

The cat sunning herself in the music room.

Edge of Urge was such a great find!

Also enjoyed a fantastic meal at Circa 1922, and had a fun time at my sister's cast party when she was done with her show at Thalian. (pictured above)  She even took me back stage to see where she does her makeup and hang her costumes.  

The cast party was at a really fun bar/live music venue called "Where Eagles Dare":

As was the pizza & arcade at Cugino Forno:

Got to finally meet this little guy and it was a blast and a half!

It was so wonderful for the three of us sisters to be in the same place at the same time, especially with birthdays in the family and anniversaries overlapping.  Lots of family time, some Mario Cart, and IPAs.

My sister got me hooked on these two covers:

Scary Pockets "The Chain" (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Scary Pockets "Stayin' Alive" (BeeGees cover)

♬ Enjoy ♬

Alan Bean paintings, Apollo stuff

 

 

 Andy and I watched the Artemis II launch last week, which was exciting, and the subsequent splash down.  We thought it was pretty cool that the orange and blue suits the astronauts wore were made locally by the Clark company, just as they did for the original Apollo flights. 

 A while ago I was really into the Apollo missions, reading lots of books on the subject, watching the Tom Hanks HBO series and some great documentaries. 

I also got really into Alan Bean's paintings.  Bean was the fourth person to walk on the moon, he was the third man on the Apollo 12 mission.  He went into space again as a part of Skylab, but his time in space made him appreciate his artistic heart, and he went into painting full time after retiring from NASA.

 

Title:  "HELLO UNIVERSE!!"

 

The title of this painting:  "Is there anybody out there?!" 

 

 A few years ago, the kids got me this absolutely incredible book of Alan Bean's paintings - AND he SIGNED IT! (Not to me... because by this point he had died... but he signed it to this lady named Emmaline, and it's possibly she has also died because I can't imagine she'd want to get rid of it... ) but  anyway- many thanks to my lovely family for the beautiful gift.

I enjoyed these, for what it's worth:

For All Mankind (1989)

Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews and music scored by Brian Eno, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals who braved the remarkable journey to the moon and back. While compiling the material for the film, Reinert went through more than six million feet of film of these historic moments.

 

The Last Man on the Moon (2014)

The story of Gene Cernan, the last person to walk on the moon, on December 14th, 1972.

** Apollo 11 (2019) 

**  This one is just phenomenal, it's made up of previously unseen footage, developed from film canisters frozen in NASA's archives for decades.  In fact, I gifted the blu-rays to a few people. 

Just beautifully done.  Recommended

 Armstrong (2019)

A biographical documentary about the life of Neil Armstrong, narrated by Harrison Ford.  It highlights his impressive military fighter pilot career, his ability to stay calm under immense pressure, and his endearing humility - which became the reason he was chosen to be the first man on the moon over Aldrin.

  In a recent interview with the Artemis II astronauts, one person said "You don't know what we go through up there, you just want to go home..." and that echoed the same sentiments the Apollo pilots expressed.  Many of them felt a crushing sense of loneliness and desolation, "the second we got out there, I realized I just want to be back on Earth with my family."

Definitely takes a special kind of person to withstand the physical and psychological tolls of all that.  (I don't do well with turbulence, so pretty sure space travel is out of the question haha :D )

⭐

............................................................................................................................

♫ ♪ 

Pink Floyd "Dark Side the Moon" (full album)

Never Say Never

A panel I penciled, inked and colored for "Never Say Never" - out via Comixology in the future...

 ♫  Every day is pretty much a draw-a-thon, as it has been for oh... 11 years now I wanna say?  Which is fine by me.  The deal is this: I get to listen to music all day, and sing along - annoying approximately zero coworkers - possibly one Andy, if I'm loud enough to bother him, but luckily he doesn't seem to mind.

While looking up reference material, I ran across this 'zine, and it also made me smile because it looks like someone drew me from freshman year of college (the exact time I went through a riotgrrrrrrrl phase).

Sometimes while working I prefer to listen to something long, like a movie or set playlist, since it wouldn't require getting up and breaking the work-flow.  Sometimes it's best not to listen to anything with lyrics since they can be distracting, and sometimes I depend on old favorites to just put me in a really good mood.  

♫

I really love this one lately:  "Carolina Blues" by Blues Traveler

Something new!

Restarting the blog!  I tried to simply re-use "veronicahebs.blogspot" but the Google Masters shot that down.  So on to something new!

 I think that I'll do is paste in some archives from the old blog, including art supply reviews, travel, music to work to, favorite memories/paintings and lots of process work.

More soon!