Monday, May 10, 2010

What timing

Allan "Goldfish" Goldstein, one of my closest and dearest friends (and fellow UPS pilot) wrote an article about me in our pilot union daily online newsletter. Here it is:

B757 Capt. Adrian Suskin in ‘Remission”



In this photo, submitted by MD-11 Capt. Allan Goldstein, you can see Capt. Adrian Suskin making the lions laugh in much the same way as he makes his flight crews laugh when they fly with him.

We are very happy and relieved to tell you that B757 Captain Adrian Suskin has been told by his doctors that he is now in "remission" status from his lung cancer.

Chemotherapy stopped last March for Adrian, and in about a year, he will revisit his AME to discuss the possibility of returning to the cockpit.

As you may know, Adrian became ill more than two years ago. In addition to fighting the lung cancer, he has devoted his time and efforts to an AIDS orphanage in his birth country Zimbabwe. As a consequence of nearly 60% of the population of Zimbabwe being HIV positive, there is a desperate need for orphanages for the numerous children left wandering the streets as a result of entire families dying of AIDS.

The IPA foundation, working closely with Adrian, made a generous $10,000 donation to the orphanage in 2009. This gift alone comprised nearly a third of the annual operating cost of the facility.

Adrian's philosophy is that doing good for other people is a therapeutic distraction. Right now, his concern is for long time UPS Training Scheduler Tom Thomas, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.

Since Adrian is now feeling a lot stronger, he has the time to live every day to its fullest. Last week, he flew to visit friends involved with the orphanage. He took the time off to go to a reserve that rehabilitates injured or orphaned lions and returns them to the wild.

Crewmembers may drop Adrian a note via email at asuskin@hotmail.com.

The IPA Executive Board and staff send our best wishes to Adrian! We thank Capt. Goldstein for providing this update and photo to share with the membership.

This article was published Friday May 7th. The same day as my PET/CT scan and my brain MRI. All was ok. He was allowed some poetic licence! Oh, by the way, I cannot use the word "remission". I simply prefer all is ok right now.

Carpe Diem.

I'm baaack


Well, I just couldn't stay away long. I have some cool stuff to tell you about. At least, I think it's cool. Hope this doesn't bore you too much.

Carpe Diem.

Re-starting my Blog

I will have lots to talk about and pictures to show in the next few days. Please stay tunned.

Carpe Diem.