Mark Karan cancer free!

[Kanada Kev]

Great hearing news such as this:

In case you haven't heard the news . . . here's the latest from Mark's CarePages:

OK... so here we go. Looooong time since I posted and it's been a long, strange trip indeed.

I'm guessing many of you have already heard the phenomenal news that we got our PET/CT scan results a couple daze early and I have officially been pronounced cancer-free!!! Woooohooooo indeed!!!

I am blown away and am full of life and gratitude... and joy at the prospect of picking up the guitar again and rejoining the ongoing parade, party and dance/concert and family that is RatDog....

I cannot express in words NEARLY enough thanks and appreciation for all of you that have travelled this road with me offering love and support and

encouragement along the way... the power of the kind of energy this community offered me is something unlike anything I'd ever experienced and

absolutely had a giant hand in my healing... along with a lot of amazing experiences that were definitely not coincidence and that have strengthened my belief in the essential goodness of people and life and experience.

Praise be to the universe and to that which we choose to call God... however that shows up for each of us!

I cannot BEGIN to thank my medical folks at UCSF... Dr Alan Kramer, Dr David Eisele, Dr Jeanne Quivey, my chemo nursing staff Fred, Dana & Trina & the gentlest blood sampler on the planet, Tom. These people brought me thru the physical treatment with strength, knowledge, encouragement and definitely put in effort beyond the call of duty... and the same goes for my alternative healers Yen Wei Choong, Carey Lee, David Kitts and Elly Winchell. Acupuncture, body & energy healing and spiritual guidance kept me on a path of joy and healing when I might otherwise have gotten lost in my own mind amongst technical data and statistics. Thank and bless you ALL.

During the past few months I've really enjoyed the few moments onstage I've been lucky enough to have stolen over the past several months... especially

joining the Doggies in December for a good chunk of their show as well as the recent kick-*** Obama benefit at the Warfield in SF. Whatta ball! But

mostly I cannot wait to get back to where I truly belong... onstage with my Dawg brothers... playing for my friends and family.

And hey Luke... you can let your hair grow again man. Heck, it looks like I may soon be sporting an Afro with my new post-chemo curls... LOL!

MUCH love, life and many blessings to my family, bandmates, friends, docs, and my extended fan family. Thank you!

And now... let's boogie!

MK

[NewRider]

Great news indeed.

[Hux]

Happy endings rule.

He played really well at the Obama show, hope he continues to elevate his playing.