Harvey died yesterday afternoon, around 4:30pm.

This reporter has lost a husband, best friend, partner and soul mate. The sun is just coming up as I break this news to our extended family - but the world will always be just a little darker and colder for me from now on.

In the days to come we will publish a full length obituary for our fallen hero, both on this Journal as well as CLL Topics website. As he wished, Harvey will be cremated in a private service and for a few days his ashes will drift on the winds around his favorite hiking trails in Sedona.

We will hold a farewell party for Harvey at our home in Sedona, in a week to ten days. Details will be published both here and on clltopics.org Please come and share the time with us if you can, electronically if you cannot make it in person. We want to celebrate the life of this gentle and brilliant man - there is much to celebrate about Harvey.

Harvey would not have wanted any pomp or circumstance. If you wish, please make a donation to your local SPCA or animal shelter in his memory. Harvey loved his Aussie Shepherd dog almost as much as he loved any human being.

You would have been proud of your hero - he served your cause right up to the end. His case history has puzzled the experts. No one can quite explain what happened, why a perfectly engrafted transplantee suddenly took a turn for the worse with such devastating consequences. They asked, and I agreed, to a full autopsy. If lessons learned from Harvey’s poor beat-up body can help experts understand things a bit better, if just one transplant patient in the future benefits from it, Harvey would have been proud to be of service.

I do not know what to say, what to feel, what to think as I try to come to grips with this tragedy. I was so sure Harvey was going to beat the odds, and we would soon be heading back home to Sedona. The CLL was defeated - but the dreaded TRM (treatment related mortality) claimed the life of my guy.

Not too many things are in my control right now - I drift in and out of reality, “normal” for a while and a basket case the rest of the time. But I am told this too shall pass. When it does, I will be back. What Harvey and I started by way of patient advocacy is more important than either of us. It will surely not die just because Harvey’s body decided to go AWOL. It will be hard filling his shoes - much of the “soul” of CLL Topics - its look and feel, the gentle tones and soothing art work - all that came from Harvey. Some things may have to change - but with your help we will persevere. So, please be patient, please wait for me.

Chaya

UPDATE: Harvey’s farewell party will be in Sedona, on Saturday, July 5th, starting at 5pm Arizona Standard Time, continuing till whenever. Please contact farewell@clltopics.org to RSVP and for more information regarding location, driving directions, lodging, etc. as well as electronic contact info for those who can’t be there in person. Thank you all!