1954

Allow me to play cheerleader for a moment. Over the years, all 57 of them since we first stepped foot on the Hanover Plain, many of us have had reason to refer to the "great" class of 1954, acknowledging its specialness for one reason or another. Recently, our class Webmaster Perry Davis put out a call for help from classmates Perry has been a long-term sufferer of myelodysplasia syndrome (MDS), a rare, acquired genetic change in the bone marrows ability to produce long-lived red blood cells, effectively denying major organs in the body of proper blood supply. Perry alerted me to the fact that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had proposed discontinuing the reimbursement of the cost of the essential and potentially life-saving drug Aranesp. He pointed out that within the past two years two of our classmates, Deke Descombes and Jay Engel, had passed away as a result of MDS, and that CMS had invited the public to comment on the agency's proposed change. Perry felt that if we appealed to the members of the class of 1954 "community" to express their opinions, it could make a difference. Well, we got the word out and it did make a difference—a big one. More than 40 classmates joined others in sending e-mail messages protesting the change, and the CMS reversed its decision. Do you have another example of how or why the class of '54 is special? Your Class Notes editor would welcome your comments.

Dick Deaner, retired thoracic surgeon, commented on this columns suggestion (May/June issue) for ex-smoking classmates and their exsmoking loved ones to have an annual chest X-ray or CT scan to detect any sign of a lung problem that might reflect or lead to lung cancer. Dick said: "I continue to advise my patients and friends to have a two-view chest X-ray every sixmonths, especially if they are younger, are still smoking or have a florid pack-year smoking history. Will that regimen turn up early, curable lesions? It might. Modern chest X-rays entail miniscule amounts of radiation. I don't know any non-HMO docs who advise against screening chest X-rays for reasons of cost."

Jim Adams, also referring to the admonition, said: "Thank you for your thoughtful article re: lung cancer. After reading your thoughts and reviewing my own statistics, i.e., stopping in 1996 after a solid 49 years of smoking, I took action within a week with a chest X-ray and the result was good. Of course I am relieved but I thank you for the nudge."

Upcoming '54 events include annual holiday luncheons: Boston, Wednesday, December 5, and New York, Thursday, December 6. Ongoing N.Y.C. '54 luncheons at the Yale/Dartmouth Club occur the first Thursday of every month.

Don't forget to periodically check the '54 Web site for the very latest class news and information: www.dartmouth.org/classes/54.

Sad to report the deaths of Cobe Addison on May 3o (see obituary) of lung cancer and Pete Gutlon (see obituary) on July 31 of pulmonary fibrosis, two smoking-related diseases.

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