the unfortunate question

[Red States Rule!]

Alright.... gotta officially ask that which I have made a joke of the last decade since the news.

 

What if he dies before it is finished?

[Luckers]

He has said he will finish it, and he will. End of discussion.

[Kadere]

I believe he's made plans so that in case of his death they'll publish his notes, or have someone finish the book for him or something like that.

 

Besides, he's got a half-life of 4 years, which means he's pretty much guaranteed another decade, which will give him PLUNTY of time to finish this book. And probably some more books too.

 

BUT! I think he's going to make it through this fine. Doctors always say that a patient only has so and so many years to live, and then three times that prediction go by and the patient if still kicking. I myself, suffered a major heart attack just after my birth, and I was claimed (by the doctors) to be blind, deaf, dumb, brain dead, and not to live past the age of 14. I'll be 20 on Tuesday, I'm in college, and my body functions perfectly. So my money is on him making through this after the Chemo, and all of us looking forward to marvelous works for the next 3 decades at least. :)

[Timewalker]

My friend's parents were told he'd be dead before he was three, three different times. He's 20, going on 21.

[son omerc]

My first thought after reading that RJ had a potentially fatal disease was "Oh man, people have been posting this theory for years". Then it hit home, this is no theory this is REAL.

 

My Grandmother was given 6 months to live at age 77, she is 94 and still going strong. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with sarcoma and had most of the bone in her right arm replaced with a high tech alloy, and 6 months later was back in the hospital to have the arm removed after x-rays and biopsies confirmed the cancer had returned. The surgeon cut into the arm and found no trace of cancer. Miracles do happen.

 

RJ could easily live longer than many of the posters on this web site. No one can guess how this will end, but I will bet on reading many more RJ stories in the future.

[ilgross]

True but then the treatment, he is under going has a 10-15% moratality rate.

 

Thats staight of the bat, and while every statistic has an anomaly. They are there for a reason, 4 yrs is the median, inculding the miracles. Which means for every person who lives 30 years, one dies in 3 months etc.

 

And unfortunetly I don't think just because RJ, is a famed writer is going to sway the odds in his favour.

 

I think he will finish aMoL, but I don't think we will ever see the Heaven of Inifity (?) series. Sadly.

[Guest cwestervelt]

My Grandmother was given 6 months to live at age 77, she is 94 and still going strong. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with sarcoma and had most of the bone in her right arm replaced with a high tech alloy, and 6 months later was back in the hospital to have the arm removed after x-rays and biopsies confirmed the cancer had returned. The surgeon cut into the arm and found no trace of cancer. Miracles do happen.

 

Miracles do happen yes. Unfortunately, not everyone is that blessed. My mother was given about 1 year if her cancer went untreated. She weakened so fast that she couldn't handle more than 2 of the treatments and died about 4 months after her diagnosis. From first symptoms to her passing away was around 5 months total.

 

As far as what happens with the AMoL, RJ said he will finish it. He is determined to do so, and that can make a big difference.

 

I would love to see his notes organized and published whether he finishes AMoL or not. If he cannot finish AMol himself though, I would prefer to see the series left without an ending. Another writer couldn't produce something that would provide a satisfactory conclusion. It can be hard to duplicate someone else's style. Add to that the fact that all of the readers would know someone else wrote it, and minor differences would feel like major differences. I'd probably by it, but I would likely be disappointed in it.

[fader6818]

James Oliver Rigney is as stubborn as a mule. This disease will get tired of trying to mess with him, and just give up. :-)

 

In all seriosu, Jim and harriet, we wish you the best.

 

That said, RJ has specifically said he will NOT allow another author to write in the Wheel of Time universe. I am not sure if this EXACTLY includes harriet's Encyclopedia that is to be published after a memory of Ligth, or if Harriet herself is exempt from this.

 

Now, if he did die, I am sure, after the grieving, harriet would be his "voice from the grave". She'd tell us who killed Asmo, and how the book was going to end, but IF he did, the book would never be written.

 

I only know that "it is in his nature to make that legally binding", but I would venture as far as to say his Last Will and testiment includes orders regarding the Wheel of Time copyrights to be made effective upon hios death, making it illegal to continue.

[Sweet 666]

When some people receive bad news they sit down, think how badly the world has misused them, then die. They are the ones on the lower end of the median. THEY ARE THE QUITTERS!! Then their are the ones who think "I will make it through this because im not done living my life yet." They keep pushing and pushing because they love life. This may not make you invincible, but it sure as hell helps! Robert Jordan does not look like a man who goes quietly to the grave. Good luck RJ Live Strong. 8)

[Alys Kinch]

his letter said he will finish atleast the main story arc for publishing. how i wish for him to atleast let harriet finish the book out if anything happens. i think he will make it through the therapy in the least.

[joeybsmash]

As a writer and the son of writers i know that many writers don't give a final title before the rough draft is either finished or almost finished. anyway my mother's books always took between 6 months to a year in back and forth between the publisher. RJ has probably speeded that up a bit but, given that the last book came out in october, i think that even if he died tomorrow we'd have a summation to read(given the length of these novels a summation would be short novel). also having seen my mother conquer cancer and my friend live with ALS i KNOW that positive additude makes all the difference. we will have a novel to read even if it is written by an anomynous Reagon O'Neil.

[Paradoxic]

From what I know of RJ's system of writing a novel, all the notes are done. The book was aiming for a 2008 release, which means entering the editing process some time in 2007 (which allows for about a year or so of editing back-and-forth). This means the draft is more than certainly done. Sure, some of the less important chapters may only be sketches, some of the dialogs just overviews, and some of the descriptions completely missing ("chapter 2, section 3 - Min comes in wearing a dress, sits down, drinks tea, talks about [Rand, Vision aMoL#14], chapter end")... but the plots are all there. The information is already set forth. I'm sure he and Harriet have set up things to deal with this unfortunate situation (I imagine all authors have set something up incase of sudden unexpected death).

 

While his condition has a median life expectency of 4 years, his treatment coming in a few weeks has a mortality rate of 10-15% Burning out someone's bone marrow is very intense. He'll have to spend weeks hooked up to machines and receive constant infusions of blood while the marrow regrows. His immune system will be completely shot for awhile afterwards. IF this goes poorly, he won't last more than a few months, not a few years. Furthermore, this has to be repeated if the disease does not go into full remission. Thus there is a 75% chance of having to do this all over again. Each successive go does increase the overall chance of death.

 

It sucks. I'm hoping he'll live through it, of course, as we all are. I had once read a study that suggested that getting others to pray for your health seemed to lead to faster recovery... and while I myself am not a religious person, I can only imagine the number of people praying RJ continues because they REALLY want to read a fully completed version of aMoL and his next series as well. He's got quite a goodly number of folks there with him.

[Guest cwestervelt]

The 10 - 15% is something I hadn't heard before RJ's letter. My brother Hodgkin's Lymphoma and has had the same bone marrow replacement treatment. (He actually had it twice, the second time using a donor for the stem cells rather than his own.) He was told 8 weeks hospitalization the second time too, but was released from the hospital in only 4 to 5 weeks. Less than 6 anyway. He was still taking chemo and radiation treatments, but as an outpatient. The 8 is most likely just an average that they tell patients.

[sunking]

I do wish rj the best on trying to fight this. but i just wish he didnt take so damn long to finish the series now. i think he will finish the series though. remember rj promised he would be writing until they nailed his coffin shut.

[son omerc]

I'm sure RJ has spent time hashing out scenarios so that he can keep writing while awaiting treatment and during, but from seeing my sister-in-law's bout with chemo I don't have many hopes that he will be able to achieve much "normalacy" during these coming months. Of course, everyone knows that every case is different and if anyone could work while recieving treatment, RJ would try.

 

RJ's attitude in this strikes me as very similar to that of Perrin's in his quest for Faile. When he says he will finish AMoL I think he has weighed what is finished against all possible outcomes and is confident that the work can be finished in the alloted time. Maybe not to his usual stringent standards, but finished none the less. Of course he could be struck by lightning tonight, but that could have happened anytime in the last 16 years. Dangerous treatment only increases the chance of untimely death, it does not change it drastically though.

 

For every miracle or positive recovery there is of course a story of someone who did not survive. Attitude is of course important, my grandmother never heard her "death sentence" from the Doctor or anyone else. We assumed that if she died the Doctor was right and knowing meant nothing. There was no treatment for her condition, and no hope according to her Doctor. He was wrong and she never had to lose one moment in worry about what might be.

 

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think in five years this will have just been a blip on the radar screen in RJ's long and fulfilling writing career. I think what will be most remembered will be his attitude about this whole episode, and many people will use his struggle and overcoming long odds in their own fight against long odds. If I'm wrong then we will have all lost. Of course that is a possibility as this is no story that the ending is preordained from the very beginning.

[Ilyena]

I would just like to take this time to wish RJ the best in his recover, and say that if he does die before it's finished... His fans should be glad he didn't develop something worse years before on, say WH, so we'd have no idea how it might end.

[dalic]

I can't remember the website now but I read an interview from years ago where RJ said that not only had he not taken steps to make sure the series would be finished in case he died, but he had actually taken steps to make sure it would be near impossible to get it finished after he passed on. It was an old interview and may change his mind now that there is only one book. Who knows? I hope he focuses on getting better rather than finishing though. Priorities.

[dfchang]

I work in the medical field and have spoken to a few people about his disease as well as done some research in the literature myself.

 

Hematology/Oncologists treat this rare disease and I do have a very good friend who is one and has treated a few people with amyloidosis.

 

I am intimately aware of medical miracles when patients who aren't supposed to be around defy the odds and do so. It is true also that a positive attitude, the love and support of friends and family, and near inexhaustible wealth make a huge difference.

 

All that being said, however, I don't want people to get their hopes up falsely. This is a VERY BAD disease. In many, many respects worse than cancer.

 

The numbers quoted to RJ come from recent reviews from the Mayo Clinic and actually apply only to the healthiest patients with the most minimal amyloidosis. He has one of the worse one with involvement of the heart.

 

However, I am encouraged by the fact that they are even willing to perform a bone marrow transplant. This immediately stratifies him into a better population. If he can SURVIVE the bone marrow transplant, this will upgrade him yet again. Per my friend, we will know within the next 2 to 3 weeks if the bone marrow transplant went well. In other words, if there's no news of his death by the end of April, he's probably in the clear from the life-ending infections that severely immunocompromised patients get. By June or July he'll also know if he has responded. In other words by the time he gets to his signing (if he survives of course) he may very well know already the results of the bone marrow transplant.

 

Amyloidosis patients have a higher risk of death from bone marrow transplants than standard cancer patients because of the higher incidence of end organ damage from the amyloid depositis. Overall mortality is usually only 5% but is doubled and even tripled for amyloidosis patients.

 

In general, most die within months without treatment especially if amyloid deposits in the heart. Even with treatment, survival is rare after 4 years. Some series see median survival at 2 rather than 4. Also remember what RJ reminded all of us. This is the MEDIAN and not the MEAN.

 

In other words out of this series:

 

3 months, 3 months, 8 months, 1 year, 2 years, 4 years, 4 years, 5 years, 5 years, 5 years, 5 years, 6 years the MEDIAN is 4 years but that does NOT mean RJ has a chance of living 8 years if he's lucky. In fact, patients living longer than 10 years are virtually unheard of in the hematology/oncology literature and those cured can probably be listed on one hand.

 

Can RJ beat this? Yes, of course there is a chance. But make no mistake . . . doing so will be a truly remarkable task. This is HARDER . . . EXPONENTIALLY harder than beating cancer. A comparison can't even be made with Lance Armstrong who had a germ cell testicular tumor that has proven suscetibility to chemotherapy. Even the most advanced type with mets to brain and lung have survivals of 50% or so with chemo for choriocarcinoma of the testicles. Amyloidosis is a another ballgame entirely. There is a good reason why they use MEDIANS and not MEANS when they talk about prognosis for this thing. In any case cures for amyloidosis are near mythical. Of those my friend have treated one died in 7 months the other in 2 years. She's never heard of anyone living 30 years or even half that. Here's hoping RJ is the first.

 

I do know that if we are lucky enough to read his last book there will always be a certain poignancy in knowing that it will likely be the last book he ever writes for his fans . . . :(

 

Sorry to be such a downer but I do think there is a lot of misunderstanding about what amyloidosis really is because it is such a weird and rare disease.

 

I truly hope I'm wrong but I'm prepared for the worst.

 

Dennis

[Ilyena]

Thanks for giving us the heads up about the diesease and it's worst cases Dennis. Im hoping RJ will make it, but none of us are in charge of Life, and "no one can stray death's hand".

If wishes were cures, RJ would be better 5 years before he was diagnosed. All we can do is hope for the best.

[Jellybelly]

Well, he is in the best hands he can be, to get the best treatment available. I am desperately hoping he gets through this, and actually have an optimistic view on this. RJ can do it, if anyone can. He said that only 5% of his bone marrow was producing these devils, and I am guessing that has to be a good thing. However, I am not anywhere near being an authority on such things. Did you ask your friend about that aspect, dfchang? Would be nice to know what sort of impact that has...

[johnnysd]

I There is a good reason why they use MEDIANS and not MEANS when they talk about prognosis for this thing. In any case cures for amyloidosis are near mythical. Of those my friend have treated one died in 7 months the other in 2 years. She's never heard of anyone living 30 years or even half that. Here's hoping RJ is the first.

 

Dennis

 

Actually, using the fact that they use medians for amyloidosis is actually a bit of a double edged sword with a silver lining, which in the case of this disease is a good thing, and not all gloom and doom. Since the treatment is so dangerous, and many catch the disease later, it means that if he gets past the treatment he has a much greater chance of living past the 4 years than if it was an actual average. From his blog, it seems like he is doing well so I am going to believe he will be on the "good" side of the median and there are good signs pointing to that.

 

In terms of the next book, I am relatively unconcerned. In a way he is like part of my family being my favorite author. All I hope for is that he gets healthy, and if he chooses to write with the time he has left that is great, if not, that is OK too. We all kinda know how things will turn out. I am sure there would be some type of release with important answers and an outline, but my main concern is that he get healthy.

 

I do not think the prognosis is necessarily as gloomy as you think.

[Inara]

has anyone noticed that it has been a while since anything was posted on RJ's blog? nothing for almost 10 days.

is there any way we can find out how he is going?

i hope he is ok

[wildorphan]

When some people receive bad news they sit down' date=' think how badly the world has misused them, then die. They are the ones on the lower end of the median. THEY ARE THE QUITTERS!! [/quote']

My father wasnt a quitter!!