The Whole Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth

OK, so I'm headed back to Georgetown tomorrow to get baselined for Dr. Cheson's clinical trial. Yes, I've decided to participate in the trial even though it means that I have to (gulp) give another marrow sample.

MUCH more important, we had a landmark event here in the McMichael household tonight. We are anticipating our first visit from the TOOTH FAIRY! No, not for me, but for Robbie. Earlier this evening, Liz was helping Robbie brush his teeth, and was explaining that when he got older, his baby teeth would come out and his big boy teeth would come in. No sooner was that discussion had when--pop--out came Robbie's lower right incisor! Sigh--my little guy is getting bigger. Any day now he'll be borrowing the car. Anyway, the tooth went into a plastic bag for the "money fairy". Apparently the going rate for an incisor is now $5.00 (Mom, I want to renegotiate). Robbie is proud and excited. We got a picture of his gap-toothed smile, which I'll post as soon as I get it on this computer.

Back to the more mundane, I head up to Georgetown tomorrow to get "baselined" for the clinical trial. My marrow harvest is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., and I'm hoping that the surprisingly low pain level from my first one wasn't a fluke. If they have three or four big orderlies with holddown straps in the room, I'm de-volunteering for the trial. At 12:30 I'm scheduled for another CAT scan, and I'm hoping to work in a required EKG between the two, so I can get back to pick up Robbie from school. I'll bring my computer tomorrow and try to post something between the knitting needle and CAT scan.

We are once again gratefully relying on the kindness of friends. Liz is leaving on travel tomorrow afternoon, and just in case I can't get back in time to get Robbie, Rich and Mindy Johnson have volunteered to pick him up and keep him safe until I get home. We've known Mindy for over ten years, and her son, Russell, is a school friend of Robbie's. Robbie knows he might be riding home with Mr. Rich tomorrow and is looking forward to playing with Russell's toys.

The real rollercoaster ride starts Monday with my first day of Chemo. Holy Crap. The Chemo makes it more real somehow, but I'm also relieved to get the treatment underway. More about the trial and the schedule as it makes itself clear. I'll be posting a day-by-day account of my first week in Chemoland.

Side note and update: the baseline treatment I will be receiving will be the drugs Fludarabine and Rituxan, or FR. This is a correction to an earlier post.

Finally, a special welcome to Cristina and to Shamrock1971. So glad to have you both aboard--thank you. Cristina--Robbie misses you and would love to see you sometime soon. We'll make plans. Shamrock--the birds are Kiwis (I checked).

Good night all