Jin Shin Jyutsu

I thought you would like to know more about Jin Shin Jyutsu-so here is the link to their website.
http://www.jsjinc.net/
Mark Dresser first introduced this to me-many years ago-and it is wonderful healing energy work, that you can do everyday. It's even more wonderful when you go for a session with a great practitioner-as I do.
Also the link for the tuning/healing forks http://www.soundhealingtools.com/index.php
My acupuncturist uses these forks in addition to the needles. I find them very comforting, and restful, they smooth out the rough edges.

recent doctors visit

I saw my oncologist on Thursday-he did a double take when he was walking thru the waiting room and saw me sitting there-then he shouted out, pointing his finger at me-"you are a completely different person now"-wow-is that an understatement-ha!
Anyway-my blood work says everything is good so far-my blood pressure is good-I've gained some weight-but everyone seems to think it's a healthy gain (I think it's the iced lattes I was indulging in on a regular basis-not to mention some other goodies like donuts-uh oh!) So we've stopped that bad girl behavior-sort of-just not as frequent-a girl has to have a reward once in a while, right? ;-)
I've been on Gleevec for 2 weeks now-as of today-and until 2 days ago-I was side affect free-not any more-drats! The nausea has kicked in-and maybe some other stuff-but it's all very mangeable- so far. Also, I've noticed that my hair is falling out a little more than usual-we'll see-that actually started happening before the Gleevec-but now there's more-and my hair feels very thin.
I have dreams of smoking cigarettes-but I'm only dreaming-very strange dreams though.....I think there needs to be an added warning on the side of the cigarette packs-"these cigarettes will track you down and haunt you in your dreams if you dare to stop smoking"...or maybe it's still the residual affects of the anesthesia slowly leaving my body......mmmm........
I can tell you this though-I have been getting weekly treatments of acupuncture and tuning/healing forks-and I had a Jin Shin Jyustu session last night-and both are helping me tremendously-really helps to even out the energy and to unblock any energy that is stuck-it's great!

photos from the May12th San Diego Benefit Concert

These photos are from the wonderful photographer Grace Parsons.
Duncan Moore and Mark Dresser are pictured here-follow the link to my gallery and you can see the rest.
http://gallery.me.com/dianemoser#100402&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Photos from the May 11th Benefit Concert at Trumpets

Hey Everyone.....
Chris Drukker shot these wonderful photos of the band and guest composers.
Tom Colao, Ben Williams and Erick Storckman are pictured here-follow the link and you can see the rest.
http://gallery.me.com/dianemoser#100380&sel=0

donating all of my clothes.......

For those of you who have seen me-you know that I'm about 40 lbs lighter now-which means none of my clothes fit me. I know that I could just drop these in the Red Cross box (we're talking about bags and bags of clothes-basically my entire wardrobe)-but I wanted to spread them around-send to your favorite organizations that desperately need clothes-maybe you know of someone who has the opposite problem than me-I exchanged clothes with a friend who gained weight and needed the size that I have(which is 18/20 and 22/24), and I needed the size that she used to be (which is 12/14). Maybe you know someone who needs a little help right now- I've got some really nice stuff. I also have shoes-shoes and more shoes-seems that when you loose that much weight-you go down in shoe size too-and of course coats and jackets. Let me know......

Reflections on the May 12th benefit Concert in San Diego

So as I was just slightly recovering-ever so slightly recovering from the night before-the next night was another benefit concert in San Diego.
First of all I gotta say-I am incredibly blessed to have so many friends who love me enough-to put an incredible amount of work into putting on a benefit concert for me-it is mind blowing!!!
Tuesday May 12th....9PM Montclair Time......6PM San Diego Time
The concert was schedule for 7 PM west coast time-but I knew that it was possible I would get a skype call from Mark Dresser at any time after 9PM-our time-because they were setting up at 6PM their time. At around 9:30 I got the call-and I was talking to and seeing Mark Dresser, Duncan Moore, the sound man and the stage at Dizzy's in San Diego. I had invited my friends Murray and Luzia to come over to watch this with me-so we had an audience of 3 ;-) How cool to be watching and listening to everything that was going on with the set up. As musicians arrived-Mark told them I was on the "laptop" and they should speak into the mic and look at the screen and they would see me. I could hear them-but they couldn't hear me so well-so I would listen to them and text back an answer. One by one, musicians and audience members came by and said hello-it was so far out!
The first group up was Mark Dresser, drummer Duncan Moore and saxophonist Trip Sprague.
They played a set of "free music" that was so beautiful, and interesting, and energetic-I just loved it.
The next group was led by guitarist Bob Boss, and included Duncan, bassist Gunner Biggs, and on trumpet-Mitch Manker-laying down some beautiful standards-and sweet bossas.
Next up was Yale Strom (violin) Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals) and Mark Dresser (bass) and later joined by Trip Sprague. They did what I call-"free klez"-klezmer music with open spaces to improvise. I've worked with Yale and Elizabeth for some time-and it is always a pleasure and always fun. They really "threw down" on the bulgar tune, Elizabeth's solo piece was breath taking and the ending "Payer" piece was so spiritually moving!
Ending the first set was Mark Dresser and Anthony Davis( piano). Mark and Anthony did a set of free improv that was incredibly beautiful and soulful-their motifs danced in and around each other-it was stunning.
During the break-I got to "chat" with more musicians and audience members-I think we were all goovin' on the technology-and how it was bringing us all together!
The second set was the band "ESP" led by pianist Lynn Willard, and included trumpeter Mitch Manker, saxophonist Bob Campbell, drummer Gary Nieves and the bass player-who I didn't know and only caught his first name-Dave. Hopefully someone will see this and tell me his last name. The band was smokin' and at one point in this set-Lynn played a section of some wonderful solo piano-it was great.
There were lots more musicians ready to play-but time ran out-and the venue said time to go home.
But I wanted to thank everyone who played-the music was so beautiful!
Thank you to everyone who came and made generous contributions-you are so kind-thank you.
Thank you to Mark and Duncan who put this together-you guys did a ton of organizing-thank you so much!
Thank you to George Vargas and Joshua White who wrote articles and got the word out!
And thank you to Dizzy's and to the sound man-whose name I didn't get-but hopefully I will-thank you for donating your space for this event.
Thank you Carol Del for holding it all together-you are Superwoman!!!
Some seriously good healing went on this evening-you have all helped me enormously-and I so appreciate it-thank you so much!
love,
Diane

Great Night in San Diego!

From Carol DelSignor:

Thanks to everyone who came out to Dizzy's in San Diego on May 12 to support Di-Mo. Diane was able to watch and listen to all the great music online. This was a big kick for her and those of us in the SD Di-Mo family of friends and fans who got to see her and chat with her online. Many thanks to all the great musicians who sat in and apologies to those who couldn't because of time constraints. One night was not enough! For those of you who were unable to make it, you can still participate in the benefit by clicking the PayPal button on this blog site. As we know, Diane has been making great progress, but the hospital and medication bills are starting to come in and she will need our support in the weeks and months to come.

Relections on the May 11th Benefit Concert at Trumpets

Wow-I am just totally blown away-and don't even know where to start but here goes!
Monday Night-May 11 Trumpets Jazz Club around 7:15...............
I walk inside the door-Natascha looks at me with that-we're already packed look-and indeed almost every seat was taken. Next thing I know-Rufus and Doris Reid are standing in front of me-giving me big hugs-and I am feeling so much love-and then I look around and Natascha is right-the "house" is nearly full-amazing. Then I look at the band assembling-getting situated-every one coming to me with their arms outstretched-oh my goodness-the flood of emotions for me and the out pouring of love and good vibes. I had missed my band so much-and it was incredible to see everyone-and the guest composers Russ Vines, Oliver Lake, Howard Johnson, Mike Kaplan,Bill Kirchner, Marcelino Feliciano on vocals and the subs in the band-Niki Denner, Matt King and Jim McNeely on piano-Tim Ferguson on bass, Joe Mosello, and Vinnie Citro on trumpet-just incredible!
Enrico asked me if I wanted a table, and I said I better do that, becuase I would need to sit down, but I also knew that I wanted to walk around and see everyone-which is exactly what I did.
The thing to bear in mind is that 2 months previously-I had my surgery-was in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks- 2 weeks of that being in isloation-came home-stayed home most of the time except for work-and this was the first time I had seen a lot of my band members and friends let alone be out in public and in a club-at night! Overwhelming doesn't even begin to describe what I was feeling.
The minute the band started to play-I knew the evening was going to be great! The band was totally smokin'-great energy-great vibes-great solos!
As I went around the room and talked to everyone, I was just amazed at not only how many people there were, but that there were people there from all different "walks of life"-and how cool that was! One of my friends told me that a mutual friend of ours said he saw a bunch of people that he knew-but didn't know that I knew them. This friend had come to the club at 8PM, and couldn't get, then came back at 9PM and still couldn't get in. Another friend said "everyone came out!"
I tried to talk to everyone-but I couldn't get to the folks at the bar-just too many people there. I did make it to the foyer of the club, and then outside-wow-the club set up tables and chairs in the parking lot for the folks that couldn't make it inside-and they had their own party going-it was great! I'm guessing that there were 250 people there-at least-I think the club seats around 150 or so.
At one point I saw musicians from the Cecils Big Band-which plays on Monday nights at Cecils Jazz Club. What I didn't know until the end of the night-was that they took up a collection at Cecils from the audience and the band members-and then brought it over. How incredibly generous! A lot of those musicians have subbed in our band over the years-and it was so wonderful to seem them there.
I saw many of our regular audience members-man-I have really missed talking to all of you-and it was so heart warming to see all of you there!
A big thank you to Chris Drukker who shot a lot of photos during the night-at some point I'll post them on our myspace page so you can see them.
A big , big thank you to Dennis "Dencon" Connors who shot video-all night-and "lit" the place-talk about working waaaaaaay over time. Dennis started coming to the big band from the very first gigs at Tierney's and has been documenting us-shooting photos and now video-for the past 12 years-just an incredible photographer, and has become a great friend too!!!
A big thank you to my friend Susan Brink who came down from Lake George, NY and ran a raffle-with the prize being a free night at the Clarion Hotel and a $50 gift certificate to Mario's Restaurant (both in the village of Lake Geroge)-during the Lake George Jazz Festival -which we are playing on-Sept 20.
Thank you to the Montclair Times-Joan Finn, The Star Ledger-Zan Stewart and Elzy Kolb for writing about this event-as well as WBGO -for making sure everyone knew about it.
A huge thank you to Natascha Radke Henke-who somehow commandeered the "door" and made sure that everyone was taken care of-unless of course there was no more room-which happened many times in the course of the evening.
Another huge thank you to Tom Colao, Ben Williams and Erick Storckman who put all of this together. Erick did a magnificent job of putting the music together (I handed it off to him only a few days before saying-"I'm not sure everything is in order"-so he had a big job there)-and in directing the band-just wonderful!
A really huge thank you to everyone who played in the band and of course to the guest composers-you all made an incredible night of music. I'm betting there are some "behind the scenes " stuff that I don't know about-so I'm going to say thank you to that too ;-).
I miss playing with all of you,I miss the comraderie, I miss Cifelli's jokes between tunes that only those of us within earshot can hear ;-),I miss our rehearsals filled with great music and pizza and the latest news on whaz up with everyone. I'm getting my strength back bit by bit, (with the help of Tom, Ron,Tim, Ken and Lou -thanks guys!)-so we'll all be playing together real soon.
Thank you to Trumpets Jazz Club for opening the club up on a night when they are regularly closed-and providing the staff-you guys worked really hard-thanks!
And a really, really HUGE THANK YOU to all who attended and gave so generously-you have no idea how much this has helped me-in so many ways. Your love and support is just so wonderful!
I tried to say hello and thank you to everyone-but if I didn't get to see you-it's probably becuase I couldn't get through all of the people-but please know that I saw you from afar and I really appreciated you coming. I'm going to do my best to repond to all of you who left notes for me-but it may take me a while-so please be patient with me.
I felt a HUGE dose of healing from all of you on Monday night-so big- that it will continue on for a long, long time-and I thank you for that with all of my heart-you are all so wonderful!
love,
DMo

Thanks for the Fabulous Turnout Last Nite!

It was a wonderful evening of music @ Trumpet's last night, and it was so heartening to see such a great turnout for Diane. The club was packed to overflow capacity and had to turn away folks, as they couldn't get any more in the door (they were standing in the kitchen!). The party eventually extended into the parking lot, with Trumpets putting together chairs and tables and serving outside. It was fun to meet so many friends of Diane.

Kudos to Eric, Ben and Mike for getting it together, and for all the excellent guest artists on the stage as well as in the crowd.

And man, did the band swing! Oliver Lake, Howard Johnson, Jim McNeeley, and all the great composers left it all on the floor last night. And thanks for doing such a great job on my chart too!

A night well-deserved for Diane.

correction-phone # for Trumpets

973.744.2600
the train station is Walnut St
it's the Montclair/Boonton Line-NJ Transit

oh yeah-one more thing.....

..... I haven't had a cigarette since March 10th and I intend on keeping it that way ;-)

I'm on drugs!

I am on the drug Gleevec now-this is the best drug for GIST. Technically, I'm taking this as a preventative measure and what I call a "clean-up" effort, to clean up any little cancer cells that were cut loose during the surgery. I believe this drug falls under the category of targeted molecular therapy, in other words it zooms in on the KIT+ protein and eradicates it (KIT+ is the protein that causes the cells to grow and divide abnormally). My oncologist's partner says that I will be on this drug for 6 months. They will monitor my progress thru blood tests, pet scans and ct scans.
From everything that I've been reading, I am extremely lucky to be alive. We caught the tumor and it's satelite tumors just in time (one was attaching itself to my stomach). My oncologist told me that I walked into the hospital in stage 4 cancer and walked out in stage 0. From what I read, taking this drug will drastically reduce the possiblity of a recurrence GIST.
Meanwhile, I am doing exercises to get my strength back, walking, going for acupuncture, eating healthy and giving thanks everyday to everyone who has helped me on this journey so far-you all have been so amazing and wonderful-thank you so much!

5/12 San Diego Fundraiser Update

The guest performer list has been updated for the 5/12 San Diego fundraiser:
"An all-star line up perform a benefit for pianist Diane Moser including Charles McPherson, Daniel Jackson, Mark Dresser, ESP Quintet, Rob Thorsen, Dave Millard, Mitch Manker, Duncan Moore, Yale Strom, Tripp Sprague, Gunnar Biggs, & more "

7PM,Tue May 12
$20 cover
Dizzy's
San Diego Wine & Culinary Center
Harbor Club Towers ground floor
2nd & J Street

the latest

The latest is that I'm not very happy with the way my doctor and his office are handling things-so I need to get some issues cleared up-and some questions answered about Gleevec.

However-in the meantime-I thought I would share a hospital funny with you.......
At some point in my hospital stay, I had an echocardiogram-my first one ever-and I thought it was pretty cool-the sound it made. So when the cardiologist came in after wards-I asked him if I could get the "music" from that echocardiogram. Obviously he looked at me with a funny look on his face (by the way-I think he looks like Peter Sellers and my oncologist thinks he looks like Stanley Tucci)-so I told him I was a composer, and I was wondering if they could burn a cd with the sounds from my echocarigram test-becuase I wanted to use it in a composition. He thought that was brilliant. I have to give it up to him-he really tried to get one for me-but alas-no cd.