Ken Peplowski GoFundMe

[Dmitry]

One of my few living favorite musicians, Mr.Peplowski is in a bit of a bind due to cancer. Those who've been following his Thursday night jam sessions on FB, are aware of his recent struggles. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/6sw88q-ken-peplowski?utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

[sonnymax]

143 views and no replies? Perhaps some words from Peplowski himself will help:

Just want to let everyone know how incredibly grateful I am for your support, generosity, positivity, and friendship. Here's where things stand (the short version): I've been getting treatments for Multiple Myeloma for a year now, so in addition to missing a year and a half of work because of the pandemic, I missed much more because of treatment and not being able to stay on the road too long or even work in Europe. Now I'm almost in remission (this is not a cancer that's considered "curable" - but one can stay in remission for a very long time). The problem is that the first attempt at a stem cell harvest failed, and now they gave me what the doctor rightly described as the worst chemo I've ever had, purpose being two-fold: to kill off any remaining microscopic cancer cells that may still be lingering and to free the stem cells back into the blood stream. So right now I'm completely drained of energy from the chemo, I'm giving myself daily injections of a drug that's supposed to help with white blood cell production, and I go in every day for blood work - unfortunately the numbers aren't there yet so it looks like this will drag on for another week or so. If it fails this time, I have a meeting with the doctor in another week to determine strategy. If it takes, I'm going to have to pick a time in the next year to get the healthy stem cells re-transferred into my body as a sort of cancer firewall. When this procedure happens it's another three months of quarantine on my part, so three more months of no work. So, as you can imagine, my medical bills are just staggering and I've pretty much wiped out my nest egg. All I can tell you is I plan on working as much and as hard as I can around all this, and despite the fact that we've all had tough times, the fact that there's been such an incredible outpouring of generosity and encouragement from all of you makes me not only want to keep going but to excel and come back stronger than ever! So I'll see you on the bandstand and I can't thank you enough. With much love and appreciation, Ken

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I donated. I've seen Ken live many times... more times than I can remember. I always left those shows feeling better than when I went in. I only hope that my donation can help Ken feel the same way.

[Dmitry]

Thanks for your big heart!. Charity is one of the signature traits of New Englanders that I’ve come to appreciate in my 18 years here.

[sonnymax]

Today

by Kenneth Peplowski, Beneficiary

Well, I’ve lost most of my hair and I’m winding up looking like Martin Short playing the banjo player in Deliverance (see photo). I have a meeting with the hospital August 9 for yet another bone marrow extraction as they need me to quarantine from them for three weeks since I just had Covid again. I did take a nasty fall from being weak but luckily I mostly just fell on my brains so it’s a little painful to sit down!! I will be at the Litchfield Jazz Fest on July 30 with my pal Houston Person so I’m looking forward to that! Then the difficult part of deciding what next and what gigs I have to cut. I can’t thank you all enough for your help and encouragement. ❤️Ken

Edited July 26, 2022 by sonnymax

[AllenLowe]

very sad to hear this, I recorded with Ken in April and he was magnificent. I love the guy and I hope all of this resolves itself.

[Eric]

Made a modest donation- thanks for the heads up.

[Dmitry]

He’s going to be at the Litchfield Jazz Festival with Houston Person (another favorite) this Saturday. I’m rather sad I won’t be able to attend because of prior commitment. That’s a hell of a group!