Info on "A Memory of Light" (updated 3/33/2006)

[seoman]

Rands truce with the seanchan i can´t recall i still believe he is trying to have a meeting with tuon but it´s been a long time since i read the books.

Rand, he is not blind yet but he can´t see well.

Logain´s glory is a future fact, and you assume is connected with the blacktower and the m´hael(which is most probably).

Loial going to the stump is a will be, but do you know the result? will all the ogiers remain in this world?

Who will ride for the golden crane? aldragoran alone? who will follow lan? again i dont know.

 

i just mean there is a lot of plots going on, (and tarmon gaidon) and everything is a lot of information to gather, so the book as i understand will be a big book

 

PS: no hard feellings everybody has bad days

thank you for reminding padan fain

 

hasta la proxima comadreja samurai

[dfchang]

The fact that it will by necessity be a long book makes it even less likely that it will be finished.

 

I am really depressed over this. I've read him since 1990 when he published Eye of the World and for him to not finish so close to the end is agonizing. :(

 

Dennis

[pennst92]

We're all praying for RJ and hoping the best...however, each of us is a fan of his and looking forward to the conclusion of an opus that we've all been along for as much as he has.

 

I mean no disrespect in saying that I have to think that a contingency plan has been put together by RJ and his agent, and TOR in case of any eventuality...

 

God Bless...

[mike]

pennst92

I mean no disrespect in saying that I have to think that a contingency plan has been put together by RJ and his agent, and TOR in case of any eventuality...

 

 

this is disheartening to me and many other readers that have invested at least 10 years into this series. it would be as substituting noal for rand.

[pennst92]

pennst92

I mean no disrespect in saying that I have to think that a contingency plan has been put together by RJ and his agent' date=' and TOR in case of any eventuality...[/i']

 

 

this is disheartening to me and many other readers that have invested at least 10 years into this series. it would be as substituting noal for rand.

 

I can understand your point of view...my take, however, is that RJ has put together the story, and MUST have an outline to finish such, and that there are a number of talented writers out there who could competantly step in and finish the book following RJ's outline.

 

A better outcome would, obviously, be if RJ got better and finished it himself, even if it takes until 2010. I'll certainly be stopping by several times a week in the interim to check for news on him.

 

Regards.

[Leopoled Boothe]

pennst92

I mean no disrespect in saying that I have to think that a contingency plan has been put together by RJ and his agent' date=' and TOR in case of any eventuality...[/i']

 

 

this is disheartening to me and many other readers that have invested at least 10 years into this series. it would be as substituting noal for rand.

 

C'mon now there is no need to be disheartened yet. You have to remember that RJ had already started work on MoL several months before he was diagnosed with amyloidois and he continues to work on it in as much as he can. The median survival for amyloidosis with treatment is 4 years meaning that half of those who have amyloidosis and recieve treatment die within four years and the other half live beyond 4 years; in some cases several years beyond the 4 year mark. We must also remember that many of those who die within four years are killed by the initial treatment itself, thus dragging down the median, and RJ has already survived that. Moreover, each time RJ visits the doctor he recieves at least some good news and this isn't the case with all amyloidosis patients. Granted he doesn't always recieve the best possible news he is far from living out the worst case scenerio. All in all, there is good reason to believe that RJ will be in the group that reaches beyond the 4 year mark. Personally, I've no doubt he will be with us for AT LEAST another decade. Although the illness certainly will slow him down, I still believe that he will have plenty of time to finish MoL and at least one of the two remaining prequells. Remember, WOT is his lifes work and whether he writes no more books or writes 10 more series WOT certainly will be the one for which he is most remembered. Thus, he is as determined if not more determined than we are to see the series completed. So take heart and remember there is reason for hope.

[GTPapabear]

I simply don't understand.

 

How can you all say such things? Hoping someone gets better or lives long enough to finish a book? I want him to be able to finish his life's work simply because he wants to.

I would be saddened as much as anyone that the series was not completed, but I would be even MORE sadded that a great artist passed and a huge chunk of the literary world would mourn.

I pray every day for him and I hope that he gets better so he can enjoy the good things (and the bad. there is no good without bad) in life.

[Leopoled Boothe]

I mean no disrespect in saying that I have to think that a contingency plan has been put together by RJ and his agent, and TOR in case of any eventuality...

 

God Bless...

 

Hate to rain on you parade but I remember reading somewhere (I believe it was on this website) that RJ has stated that if he doesn't finish the series then no one will. Although it would be disapoining I can understand his position, I wouldn't want anyone else messing with my lifes work either. However, on the bright side he is determined to finish the series come hell or high water, so I still believe, I BELIEVE that "Memeory of Light" will be completed.

[Leopoled Boothe]

I simply don't understand.

 

How can you all say such things? Hoping someone gets better or lives long enough to finish a book? I want him to be able to finish his life's work simply because he wants to.

I would be saddened as much as anyone that the series was not completed' date=' but I would be even MORE sadded that a great artist passed and a huge chunk of the literary world would mourn.

I pray every day for him and I hope that he gets better so he can enjoy the good things (and the bad. there is no good without bad) in life.[/quote']

 

 

I agree with you 100% I pray every night that RJ will buck the odds and will live a long, happy and reasonably healthy life. There is no need to hope and pray specifically that he finishes the WOT sereis as that would be the natural by product of him living a long and happy life (and besides to do so would be highly tackey). I too want him to finish the sereis simply because he wants to, and he definitly wants to. I know some people like to say RJ's living even another two years is severly against the odds, but what can I say I for one believe in the power of prayer and he certainly has many people praying for him. So statistics be damned, RJ seems to be an exceptional man in every other way so why would he not be the exception in this case?

 

However, keep in mind that while RJ has many people around the world praying for him during his illness there are many people in the world who are ill and have no one to pray for them. Please remember to keep them in your prayers as well.

[Leopoled Boothe]

Right now' date=' unless he has a lot more of Memory of Light finished than he is letting on, I put him finishing the series at only a coin flip. And 50/50 is being optimistic.

Dennis[/quote']

 

Just out of curiosity I'd like to know exaclty how much is he letting on has been finished?

[dfchang]

Well I hope as well that RJ makes it but the statistics being given is a little skewed. I don't know what exactly has been told to RJ and Harriet by the Mayo people but there are a few things that need to be said.

 

First of all, I am a doctor although not a Heme/Onc speicalist. I'm a head/neck surgeon so amyloidosis is a bit out of my purvey. I know as much about this disease as probably the next guy on the Internet whose done a good Wikipedia web search.

 

Having said this, I am good friends with a few Heme/Onc specialists and they know A LOT about this disease. One such doctor has performed bone marrow transplants on amyloidosis patients at her hospital and has also sent referrals to Mayo as well.

 

So . . . from a medical perspective the prospect of RJ surviving 10 years is very poor. The 4 year median survival is extremely optimistic . . . this refers to people who have had a FULL response to bone marrow therapy. This is not the case with Jordan. There have been few published series on amyloidosis because it is so rare. The major ones come from Mayo and Boston University.

 

Overall, this disease is VERY bad to have. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Amyloidosis is worse than many cancers. The MEDIAN survival does not mean the average. It is the number in the MIDDLE of a range of numbers. Hence 1, 2, 3, 4, 50, 88, 156. The median number would be 4 . . . obviously nowhere close to the true mean.

 

All this is to say that RJ's prognosis having failed the bone marrow transplant is not good. Patients are stratified into risk groups based on the type of amyloidosis they have, the organ system most involved, the aggressiveness of the disease, and response to therapy. The fact that RJ was a candidate for bone marrow transplant in the first place and that he SURVIVED it are all positive points in his favor. The fact that he did not respond and the fact that the light chains are still increasing are NOT good points. Further, the fact that the amyloid deposits in his heart is also NOT good. Overall, RJ stated that without response to treatment the median survival is ONE year. And that is the MEDIAN.

 

The fact that he appears to need Lasix (a potent diuretic) is NOT a good sign. This means that for whatever reason (whether because of the amyloid deposits or the experimental protocol he is undergoing) he is in some component of Congestive Heart Failure. You don't gain 20 pounds of water unless this is a big problem.

 

People with CHF can last quite a few years but their quality of life is not very good. They can't sleep unless propped up by multiple pillows, they get tired very easily, they get lung manifestations of the disease, etc, etc. And this is CHF NOT caused by amyloidosis. THAT type of heart failure usually progresses much faster and the patient dies from either a heart attack or simple endstage heart failure and pulmonary edema.

 

Amyloid that deposits in the heart is one of the WORST kinds and RJ has that.

 

It is encouraging to note that his EF is still ok and that damage to his myocardial wall appears to have stabilized but this can change at any time.

 

Even with advanced in medicine, the mortality of amyloidosis is still very high. There are only a few people in the world that have "beaten" the disease and this is mostly because they have a VERY indolent and slow form of amyloidosis and they have had a successful bone marrow transplant.

 

RJ fits none of that criteria. So to think he will be with us "at least" 10 years is very optimistic and may set yourself up for disappointment.

 

This is LITERALLY a "one in a million" disease so there aren't many people in the U.S. with it. My friend has treated about a dozen or so in the past few years and the LONGEST survival was 4 or 5 years. Most died within one to two years from heart and kidney failure. Another Heme/Onc specialist at Kaiser whose been in practice for many decades have treated a few dozen and had 2 or 3 long-term survivors but once again with very indolent types that responded to the bone marrow transplant.

 

In any case, if RJ is too weak to even be allowed by his doctors to type in his blog . . . this is worrisome to me. It shows that his CHF is worse than perhaps publicized.

 

Also, no offense to any Medicine or Heme/Onc docs out there but the personalities that go into that field are naturally extremely optimistic and aggressive. This is the "never say die" attitude. Even my friend freely admits this. They are usually VERY uncomfortable telling patients the true state of affairs. I've seen Heme/Onc docs still talking about treatment with end-stage pancreatic cancer patients, lung cancer patients with brain mets, etc. I mean sure there's always miracles but speaking as a doctor ... when your patient statistically has less than a one percent chance to live out the year I think it is a moral and ethical duty to tell them the facts and let them know the odds. Obviously amyloidosis is not as bad as THAT but certainly being put on "experimental protocols" is never a positive sign.

 

Once again I hate to be a downer on this but knowing what I know and reading the papers written by the Mayo and Boston people on Pubmed has caused me to be quite concerned. I HOPE RJ beats the odds. I've read him from 1990, the very beginning and greatly enjoy his work. I've met him at signings 4 or 5 times and think he's a great guy.

 

But I think that the presentation of his disease has been a bit optimistic and I just feel that we need that injection of realism here. For RJ to be alive 5 years from now (not to mention 10) would be one of the great miracles in medicine. I hope he can do it.

 

Dennis

[Conor]

What's with all the pessimism? We all know he's fighting hard as he can, and I reckon with his own positive attitude, as well as all the positivity being sent to him, he's a better chance than you think.

 

Remember also that there's no officially bad news. Ok he hasn't responded as well as hoped to certain treatments, but that doesn't mean he wont improve.

 

We all have to just put it out there that he can get better, instead of discouraging and disheartening people with talks of possibilities we can't be sure of.

 

Remember, the Seanchan have been defeated in battle, but they re evaluate and come back stronger and better to win. I reckon like a lot of things in the series, he has drawn from what he know to put this across. Maybe he can be like the ever victorious army?!

 

We all gotta keep smiling, and keep positive, and if we're lucky, we'll get aMoL.... when RJ is better.

 

SO keep those smiles on, keep the good wishes/prayers/ whatever you choose to send RJ going. :D

[Leopoled Boothe]

Ok, I continue to do a little more research on amyloidosis each day and I see now just how extrodenarly optimistic saying the RJ could still be with us in 10 years was. Mostly I misinterpreted the 4 year median to mean those recieving any form of treatment as opposed to specifically refering to sucessfull chemotherapy. None the less, I choose to remain optimistic. I am a reasonably religious man and I do believe in the power of prayer. In fact I believe that I have seen it in action several times in my life. The most outstanding example occured back in 2001 when one of my old highschool class mates was diagnosed with advanced hepatic carcinoma. All the standard treatments were attempted but to no avail thus he was put on experimental protocols and this worked like a charm. Although the prognosis was very poor at the time he is still very much alive a kickin' five years later. Now I know there is no way of proving that this had anything to do with it but just before the experimental protocols were given I sent out several e-mails to friends of mine asking them to pray for him. As I stated before I do believe in the power of prayer and I know that RJ has thousands of fans out there praying for him. For this reason alone I bleive that there is hope. It is all to easy in times such as these to give up faith in God and to put all our faith in science and statistics. I not saying that science ans statisics are bad things in fact I think that they are a blessing and that have and will continue to serve mankind in many good ways. However, we must never forget even in the most grim of situations that there is always one major trump card that can be brought into play ie the Power of the Lord our God. As you stated miricals can happen and if that is what it will take for JR to get better then that is what I'm going to keep praying for. I hope you will join me.

 

Sincerely,

 

Leopoled Boothe

 

PS: I've never been a big fan of realism I've found that it has never done anything but stand in my way.

[pennst92]

I'll pool my prayers with yours. didn't mean to open a negative can of worms :oops: ...most importantly is RJ getting better.

 

Best Wishes...

[Diamondmask]

Hi Guys, I'm new to this forum and it looks really cool. Has RJ really started the last book? I've just finished KOD and thought it was his best and I can't wait to read the last. But because he is really ill, I wondered if maybe the writing had been shelved? I wish him both a speedy recovery and the strength to write again.

[Leopoled Boothe]

Hi Guys' date=' I'm new to this forum and it looks really cool. Has RJ really started the last book? I've just finished KOD and thought it was his best and I can't wait to read the last. But because he is really ill, I wondered if maybe the writing had been shelved? I wish him both a speedy recovery and the strength to write again.[/quote']

 

No, the writing has not been shelved. RJ continues to work in as much as he can though he is not yet going at full force.

[hyldemoerwitch]

Personally, I don't think RJ will LET himself pass to the next age, without finishing this book.

I surely hope that he doesn't go as soon as it is finished.

I have enjoyed no other author as much as I have enjoyed him.

I want to smack those idiots that say RJ is milking the series by drawing out the plot.

RJ is a writing genius, and I see a story flowing from his fingertips just bursting to make it on the the page.

He has so much story flowing out of him, it is hard for him even to get it out into 12 or 13 books, much less 3 or 4.

I loathe people that like books that wrap up the same tired of good v evil story in the prescribed trilogy.

RJ fans know this, and don;t settle for the mediocrity of almost all other authors who write for the mass majority of people that like mass production fiction, etc etc...

I digress on that.

 

We adore your genius Mr Jordan, and all wish you well.

Best, Hylde

[Diamondmask]

Hopefully he will be well for a long, long time. And write more stories - not necessarily WOT (I m really impatient to read the end story). Prequels are doing a roaring success at the moment; I would love to read Moiraine's back story. And even Tam's. In fact I was really excited reading KOD because I thought Moiraine would come back. I'm still hoping she will in AMOL.

[Mclean]

Get well soon Mr Jordan

 

Ma te atua koe e manaaki e tiaki hoki

 

May god help and care for you

[Diamondmask]

Kia Ora, McLean. Tena que? Let's hope RJ lives to write many more stories for us.

[schizm]

I sincerely hope and pray that RJ not only beats his illness, and finishes this series. I hope that he is able to continue writing the stories he wants to write, and that he lives each and everyday as full as he possibly can.

 

He is a genuinely good person, and a very gifted writer. The day he does pass on, the world will be a little colder, and less creative. I hope he is able to fight this off, and beat all the odds with a long life.

[Will al Seen]

hey jason, where did you get that pic of Rand?,it's quite nice i think. I can never seem to find a really good picture of rand anywhere he always looks too old or too young or too freakin crazy.

[Guest Kinslayer]

First let me say that I hope that RJ beats the amyloidosis and not just so that he can finish the last book. Now having said that, there is one thing that everyone is forgetting. RJ has said himself that he does not intend to tie up all of the plotlines. He wants to leave some things to our imaginations. So however much we want everything tied up in a nice little package it was never goig to be that way.

[johnnysd]

Well I hope as well that RJ makes it but the statistics being given is a little skewed. I don't know what exactly has been told to RJ and Harriet by the Mayo people but there are a few things that need to be said.

 

First of all' date=' I am a doctor although not a Heme/Onc speicalist. I'm a head/neck surgeon so amyloidosis is a bit out of my purvey. I know as much about this disease as probably the next guy on the Internet whose done a good Wikipedia web search.

 

Having said this, I am good friends with a few Heme/Onc specialists and they know A LOT about this disease. One such doctor has performed bone marrow transplants on amyloidosis patients at her hospital and has also sent referrals to Mayo as well.

 

So . . . from a medical perspective the prospect of RJ surviving 10 years is very poor. The 4 year median survival is extremely optimistic . . . this refers to people who have had a FULL response to bone marrow therapy. This is not the case with Jordan. There have been few published series on amyloidosis because it is so rare. The major ones come from Mayo and Boston University.

 

Overall, this disease is VERY bad to have. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Amyloidosis is worse than many cancers. The MEDIAN survival does not mean the average. It is the number in the MIDDLE of a range of numbers. Hence 1, 2, 3, 4, 50, 88, 156. The median number would be 4 . . . obviously nowhere close to the true mean.

 

All this is to say that RJ's prognosis having failed the bone marrow transplant is not good. Patients are stratified into risk groups based on the type of amyloidosis they have, the organ system most involved, the aggressiveness of the disease, and response to therapy. The fact that RJ was a candidate for bone marrow transplant in the first place and that he SURVIVED it are all positive points in his favor. The fact that he did not respond and the fact that the light chains are still increasing are NOT good points. Further, the fact that the amyloid deposits in his heart is also NOT good. Overall, RJ stated that without response to treatment the median survival is ONE year. And that is the MEDIAN.

 

The fact that he appears to need Lasix (a potent diuretic) is NOT a good sign. This means that for whatever reason (whether because of the amyloid deposits or the experimental protocol he is undergoing) he is in some component of Congestive Heart Failure. You don't gain 20 pounds of water unless this is a big problem.

 

People with CHF can last quite a few years but their quality of life is not very good. They can't sleep unless propped up by multiple pillows, they get tired very easily, they get lung manifestations of the disease, etc, etc. And this is CHF NOT caused by amyloidosis. THAT type of heart failure usually progresses much faster and the patient dies from either a heart attack or simple endstage heart failure and pulmonary edema.

 

Amyloid that deposits in the heart is one of the WORST kinds and RJ has that.

 

It is encouraging to note that his EF is still ok and that damage to his myocardial wall appears to have stabilized but this can change at any time.

 

Even with advanced in medicine, the mortality of amyloidosis is still very high. There are only a few people in the world that have "beaten" the disease and this is mostly because they have a VERY indolent and slow form of amyloidosis and they have had a successful bone marrow transplant.

 

RJ fits none of that criteria. So to think he will be with us "at least" 10 years is very optimistic and may set yourself up for disappointment.

 

This is LITERALLY a "one in a million" disease so there aren't many people in the U.S. with it. My friend has treated about a dozen or so in the past few years and the LONGEST survival was 4 or 5 years. Most died within one to two years from heart and kidney failure. Another Heme/Onc specialist at Kaiser whose been in practice for many decades have treated a few dozen and had 2 or 3 long-term survivors but once again with very indolent types that responded to the bone marrow transplant.

 

In any case, if RJ is too weak to even be allowed by his doctors to type in his blog . . . this is worrisome to me. It shows that his CHF is worse than perhaps publicized.

 

Also, no offense to any Medicine or Heme/Onc docs out there but the personalities that go into that field are naturally extremely optimistic and aggressive. This is the "never say die" attitude. Even my friend freely admits this. They are usually VERY uncomfortable telling patients the true state of affairs. I've seen Heme/Onc docs still talking about treatment with end-stage pancreatic cancer patients, lung cancer patients with brain mets, etc. I mean sure there's always miracles but speaking as a doctor ... when your patient statistically has less than a one percent chance to live out the year I think it is a moral and ethical duty to tell them the facts and let them know the odds. Obviously amyloidosis is not as bad as THAT but certainly being put on "experimental protocols" is never a positive sign.

 

Once again I hate to be a downer on this but knowing what I know and reading the papers written by the Mayo and Boston people on Pubmed has caused me to be quite concerned. I HOPE RJ beats the odds. I've read him from 1990, the very beginning and greatly enjoy his work. I've met him at signings 4 or 5 times and think he's a great guy.

 

But I think that the presentation of his disease has been a bit optimistic and I just feel that we need that injection of realism here. For RJ to be alive 5 years from now (not to mention 10) would be one of the great miracles in medicine. I hope he can do it.

 

Dennis[/quote']

 

 

One thing to remember in his case is that the amyloidosis was found in him much earlier than it is found in many people. Couple this with some response to the new therapy he is getting I think that he is a good candidate for being on the good side of the median.

[dimmu666]

yes we all should be optimistic for RJ's sake but for God's sake listen to the doctor. He actually knows what hes talking about.