Remission Letter From Mike Peters of The Alarm

8th July 2006

Hello Everyone,

This is the letter I have been wanting to write to you all since I was diagnosed with Leukaemia (CLL) last December 8th 2005. After an incredible six months, I am now in a position to share with you the news that I am in complete remission.

As some of you may already be aware, I was able to release this news publicly during the Manchester Academy concert. The reaction to the news was and has been overwhelming. Obviously, I wanted to post this news on the website a.s.a.p. but held back for a few days because of other 'siginificant' news that I will share with you later in this letter!!!

I did have a good idea that remission was coming while I was in the USA for the Joey Ramone Lymphoma Research Benefit Concert last month, but was unable to go public because I was waiting on the results of a bone marrow biopsy to be confirmed by the All Wales Lymphoma Board. This confirmation came through last week.

In the words of my Haemotologist Dr. Edwards, I had the "worst blood diagnosis he had ever seen", when he first looked at me in December with a white blood count of over 500,000. Now, he says I have "the best blood result he has ever achieved in a cancer patient", with a very normal white blood count of 7.5.!!!

I have to put this amazing recovery down to the skill of Dr. Edwards and his prescription of exactly the right drug / chemotherapy regime for me as an individual and the complete love and support of my wife Jules, who designed and supervised an amazing change of diet for me that has also played a huge part in my recovery. I was also encouraged and inspired by the thoughts and affection of fans from all over the globe who kept in almost daily contact via emails with messages of support, goodwill, advice and hope.

Of course, I am hoping that this will be the end of Leukaemia for me and my family but although I am now in remission, I cannot say that I have been cured. The history of this disease says that it will come back. Only last week in the days leading up to the Manchester show, I was in hospital having a Stem Cell Harvest as a safeguard for the future just in case the disease returns and I build up a resistance to the Rituximab / Cyclophosphomide drugs that have worked so well for me this time. Over the next few months my brother and sister will be having their blood typed just in case I need to have a Stem Cell Transplant from a donor and who knows, at some point in the future I may need to look for a donor from outside of my immediate family......

From now on, I will be working to maintain my remission for as long as possible, hopefully forever. To do that, I am going to have to protect my health as a first priority and although there will be more shows and new music I am going to have to be selective about the work I undertake. I think I have shown throughout the last six months how important my music is to me and I believe it has also played a significant part in my recovery. The 'Saturday Gigs' gave me a focus while I was undergoing chemotherapy and each of them was memorable for a variety of reasons. As a result we are all set to continue the theme and in the coming days more shows for the remainder of the year will be announced via www.thealarm.com .

When I wrote that initial letter to you all back in December I honestly did not know how things would turn out. Of course I was hopeful / positive that things would turn out well in the end, but not even I could have dreamt up a better 'happy ending' than this. Last night, Jules and I had it confirmed that we are expecting a new baby to arrive in January 2007!

See you soon, Mike Peters