Oliver Schroer News - CBC Olifiddle on Tonight

[Jay Funk Dawg]

I thought some of you might be interested to hear the recording of the Olifiddle concert that I attended 2 months or so back. KevO posted about it and my response didn't poster properly - and I didn't repost - I was having those problems regularly this Winter.

The Ollifiddle concert will be aired Tonight on CBC (Monday night)....details are in the news below. Unfortunately, the news is not good for Oliver Schroer.

He and his music left such a dramatic impression on me, for lots of reasons, and it is really hard to accept that his condition is not going to improve and he won't be around to amaze people with his music. He writes about it below.

Today I'm celebrating the 3 year Anniversary of my sister's Bone Marrow Transplant - an event that has restored my sis' health and ended a her 3 year Battle with Cancer. His story hits me close to home and I wish the best in final struggle.

If you can record the show please do - I was there on the Tuesday Concert (hosted by Sounds Like Canada's Sheila Rogers) of the OlliFiddle and I was blown away - the emotion of Oliver's playing is rich with expression - I implore you to check him out further.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Oliver Schroer's News

Date: Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 11:34 AM

Subject: Oliver's Update April 2008

Hello friends, fans and extended family,

Here is the news that has come down the pipe since Olifiddle2 back in February. Those, by the way, were fantastic shows (well, for me in any case) and a real love-in. I managed to be out for both of those shows, and playing in a variety of contexts. I did some solo performance from Camino (Field of Stars, and on the second night The Lord's Prayer). I got to play with Stewed Tomatoes as well as Michele George, Casey Sokol, Anne Lindsay and some other special musical collaborators who have figured very meaningful in my life – so it felt like musical treats all around. And then one of the big highlights for me was to see my revamped youth group 'The Twisted String' doing their colourful thing. Chelsea Sleep and Emilyn Stam, the two de facto leaders of the group, had been motivating since November to get funding for The Twisted String to make their way to Toronto for the benefits. They managed to scare up 21 airfares, and with the help of a highly organized and motivated Toronto crew, figure out billets, workshops and extra concerts throughout the week of their stay. They put in a grand performance on the night of the shows. At first it seemed to be all about colour, about the spectacle and the wild costumes. But in the end, it was their performance that blew away the audience. Motivated, tight, and musical to the max. They wanted me to join them, but I preferred just to stand at the sidelines and to take it all in. What a thrill that was.

The Olifiddle concerts were taped by CBC Canada Live. We have just gotten word of a broadcast date on that…

Monday April 7 at 8 pm on Canada Live, on CBC Radio 2

Thanks to all of you for making this happen. Apparently, there were some technical glitches in the first set. I do know that they are delighted with what they got in the end, so I hope you can tune in for two hours of great performances and interviews. Please feel free to forward this notice to your friends, or anyone who might be interested in Olimusic…

On a more sobering note, the week after Olifiddle, they did a fairly routine test on me on the way to the Bone Marrow Transplant. It was a lumber puncture, otherwise known as a Spinal Tap. They stick a little needle into your spine, and draw some fluid from there. Apparently, disease (ie, leukemia) can hide out in there and be undetected and unreached in there by more conventional means. So they had to check to make sure I was clear. I was not clear. They found cancer in my spine and head. They figured they could nail it with a course of chemo straight into the spine, and began an aggressive course of Spinal Taps to do exactly that. But for whatever reason, I was not responding very well to this regimen. So they did a (very noisy) MRI test, and based on that, decided to do two weeks of radiation therapy. They created an elaborate mask that looks like a combo goalie/spiderman mask, to aim the radiation. And for 15 days, radiation it was.

The original plan of course, was to get me prepped for the Bone Marrow Transplant. Now all along, I was in a high risk group in that. And time was of the essence. We needed to move quickly, so that the leukemia did not have a chance to come back and settle in. Even with a BMT, the chances of this procedure working and being effective in any kind of long-term way was pretty slim.

I got a visit from my oncologist (Dr. Andre Schuh) yesterday. He let me know what is really happening with me right now. Apparently, my bloodwork is out of control, and the leukemia is coming on thick and fast in my system. The cells they are finding are the descendants of the original cancer cells they tried to annihilate back in June. This means that these cells are drug resistant to virtually everything – they are monster cancer cells. Schuh let me know that they have given me just about every cocktail and protocol know to man. And in high enough doses that they should have killed me. But they didn't. Because as Teresa Doyle says "I'm tougher that a boiled owl…!" But it does mean that they are out of options on me in terms of treatment. So right now, I am permanently off the Transplant list. This treatment not going to happen for me. They have deemed my case incurable and terminal at this point, and are figuring out how to keep me comfortable for the time that is left to me. This is of course sobering news for me. I am digesting it all, and making some decisions about what will be important for me over the next while.

I want to let you know that I deeply appreciate all of your support out there, and your understanding and empathy in all of this. If there is anything I need, I will put it out to my list…..

And in the mean time, I do not plan to mope around. I want to use the time left to me to be as alive as possible. Obvious stuff for me. Why be miserable when I can smell the proverbial flowers. There is no time line indicated in all of this. It is me against the disease. We are both tough. And somewhere down the line, that disease will win over my body. But my spirit will persevere.

Sending out love, and thanks,

Oliver

[bagochips]

Thanks for sharing this. I have been a fan of Oliver Schroer since seeing him many years ago at Blue Skies. I'll deffinately give a listen tonight.

[Velvet]

Such a good man, such a bad disease.