Timeliness is not always my strong suit… Many of my updates during Luke’s illness were forced, given the fact that things were changing so quickly that if I didn’t post what I’d already partially composed, it would soon be old news. Clearly, life on that front has slowed down – as have my updates… So, I hope you’ll

It feels like I’m waking up from a nightmare – the last 14 + months. At the end of it all, I can’t believe we lost Luke. How could this possibly be real? 10.5.14 – Luke ran a marathon. 10.5.15 – Luke is already gone.  10.10.14 – Luke got his moose. 10.10.15 – Still gone & sinking in more each

Lukas Peter Neraas lived large and fast over the course of 39 years. He loved life, exploring the natural world, mountain tops, friends, and family. Luke died at home, surrounded by family, on Saturday, September 26, 2015, after striving against an aggressive brain cancer – glioblastoma – for over 14 months. Born on March

Lukas Neraas March 31, 1976 — September 26, 2015 There will be a celebration of Luke’s life at 3:00 pm on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at the Linn Canyon Ranch in Victor, Idaho. Saturday, October 24, 2015 Linn Canyon Ranch Schedule: 2:00 – 2:30 pm – Arrive, Park & Walk to Venue 3:00 pm – Service & Speakers 4:00

Recovering from the stroke that Luke had right before surgery, meant moving to St. Mary’s for rehabilitation therapy. It was just on there other side of Golden Gate Park. Therapy sessions were packed and Luke improved daily. From the parallel bars, to a walker, to a cane, to a staff. It was amazing what could be accomplished in

July 21st marked one year since we walked Luke into the local clinic to check up on an excrutiating headache. It has been a tumultuous year since that unassuming visit. We recognized & thought about the date, but we didn’t really mark the occasion. There seemed like little to celebrate since Luke has not been feeling well. A year

Mid-June we returned to the Bay Area for the much anticipated MRI – one month post chemo-infusion. Unfortunately the week preceding the trip did not bode well. In truth, Luke has not really felt up to par since the May 15th infusion. The infused chemo was contained within the tumor and has since been metabolized (I’m told); however,

A week

Maui was

Life has been busy. Luke’s been back to work, on an annual yurt trip with his workmates, fishing, running, biking, skiing, racing – you name it. We had a good birthday weekend (the weekend between our b-days) in Montana with family and fun in mid-March. Though it was a fast trip, we packed in

A decade ago, Luke and I lived in Missoula, MT for a decade – also home to Snowbowl. Not only did we first meet on her slopes, but during the winter months a good piece of our lives revolved around the pitches of this mountain. There’s an undeniable, solid camaraderie amongst Snowbowl skiers. It takes two old,

The week before this all started in mid-July, we were vacationing in Montana with family.  At some point we found ourselves in Butte browsing at Murdocks. Luke found a must-have carhartt, burgundy wool, fleece-lined hat with both a brim and ear flaps. Not seasonally appropriate, but it did look like a perfect fall acquisition. He blissfully bought it.

The impending January 27th MRI has come & gone – and the news is good! The initial tumor-free read was confirmed by UCSF late Wednesday evening. We are so gratefully relieved to have a reprieve. The weeks leading up to the recent MRI were shrouded in another severe headache, swelling at the surgery site and some

Upon getting his stapes removed and making the 3 week mark of required rest, Luke immediately donned his favorite apparel – skis. He took EB out, either downhill or cross-country skiing, for 6 days straight. Granted, at nearly 4 years old, EB is not known for overly long ski sessions, but it was a great effort and

Luke moved out of the neuro-ICU in the early afternoon, the day following surgery – to nearly the exact same room he occupied during his previous stay at UCSF. The normalcy and now innate knowledge of how things go, of protocol, of where to find doctor’s offices, pharmacies, admissions, the OR, ICU’s & bathrooms is bizarre. I recognize some of the

It’s hard to know where to start – sometimes feels like it’s been years instead of four months since life took this crazy turn. There have been a lot of seemingly unnecessary obstacles we’ve had to overcome during the last few weeks. The first included a change-of-date for Luke’s surgery, after we bought airline tickets & wrapped

Monday, November 3rd, brought Luke’s first follow-up MRI since the original resection. We opted to have it done semi-locally in Jackson, WY with a follow-up consult of the scan by UCSF. Despite the forewarnings about the aggressiveness of this horrible diagnosis (glioblastoma multiforme – GBM IV), we really anticipated that the first MRI was

Despite the adages to ‘take it easy’ during radiation, Luke continued to go as full steam as his body would allow and was unexpectedly up until 4:30 am on his last night of treatment – processing a moose. Luke moves about a thousand times faster than these updates; so first, I must recount the marathon he

Luke’s just finished week three of radiation – the would be half-way point, but just like the 40 weeks of pregnancy that’s sold as 9 months, his 30 treatments/6 weeks is spilling into seven near-full weeks of weekdays. He’ll be done the 2nd week of October.            He continues

We’ve been home for two weeks now. Between doctor appointments, we’ve resumed somewhat of a routine with my work and childcare, while Luke “rests”. Rest for Luke includes 7:00 am Monday morning meetings at Lucey Electric to check in with the boys and catch up on work details, tying flies, fishing, harvesting garlic, taking

We spent a few more days after Luke’s release, lodged in a private house between the Mission and Castro districts. Dolores Park was a great, nearby park that provided good fun for the kids – Elsa and our one year old nephew, Renan. Luke was forced to spend the majority of the time laying

Early on Friday morning Luke was transferred out of the ICU. He was, by all accounts, the first patient to walk out completely unassisted and caring his own flowers. The nurse that watched him for his two nights in the ICU happily introduced Luke to his new nurse staff. Such a star. Nothing seems to

Luke felt quite a bit better the next morning, except for the continual and heightening problem of exhaustion from lack of sleep and the hole in his head due to the recent 5.5 hour surgery. Nevertheless both the surgeons and nurses seemed pleased with his recovery. His speech and motor skills do not seemed to be

We are absolutely overwhelmed by the support of all of you – emotional, physical, logistical & financial – you all have our backs and we can’t thank you enough. It reminds me of our wedding – almost 6 years ago –  when our community joined us and promised to stand up and help us make it, through

Wednesday morning brought us closer yet to the next big step – surgery. I rested with Luke in his room and helped to channel all the love coming our way through the big window towards Luke while he calmly rested in a very focused way – like the athlete he is, before a big

Between 1 hour check-ups by the nurses, janitors, constant blood draws to measure his sodium levels (prevents seizures), and a 4:00 am high-definition, color MRI scan, Luke has gotten little sleep since checking into the hospital yesterday afternoon, but is in fine spirits. All the nurses have been terrific and some swing by just

Thanks to Siri, we successfully navigated to UCSF, where they readily took us in. Anna took Elsa to the nearby and amazing Golden Gate Park during our appointment. Dr. Berger saw us directly and agreed with the immediacy of the tumor at hand. Because of the location of the 3 cm tumor, in the left frontal lobe,

A week ago on Monday, July 21, a sudden, severe and worsening headache drove us to the Teton Valley Health Clinic mid-afternoon. Nearly dismissed as a migraine, a CAT scan was ordered to be certain. It was quickly followed by a MRI. These tests brought up the unbelievable news that there was a mass of some kind in Luke’s