I saw Dr. Cheson on Wednesday and we're good to go for next week's session. I'll be starting on Tuesday, as Georgetown is closed for the holiday on Monday.
Medically, the appointment fell into the "Why did I bother?" category. The good doctor was running very late--I went to examination room M315 at 12:10 p.m. for a 10:30 a.m. appointment. I never saw Katherine (normally the highlight of the visit), didn't meet Jenny C. (the new Damiet), and to top it all off Dr. Cheson was unable to access the notes from my previous visits due to a screwed-up computer in the exam room. I pretty much expressed all the medical opinions offered up that Wednesday morning.
In any case, Dr. C. was happy with my progress and OK'ed me for this week's chemo.
What made the appointment at all worthwhile was the people watching and conversations in the waiting room. I saw several men who talked through holes in their throats. I saw a beautiful girl in her 20's being wheeled around in a wheelchair, carrying a black and white Coco Chanel handbag and wearing a North Face windbreaker.
Most memorable was a discussion with Debbie, a very nice lady about my age who is battling Multiple Myeloma (MM). Cancer can be cruel--Debbie recently lost her husband to aggressive bladder cancer, and now she has MM. Well, it turns out that MM is treated with Lenalidomide, the thalidamide relative that is at the heart of the clinical trial in which I am participating. Remember, I'll be getting the Lenalidomide for free as part of the trial.
Turns out that Debbie recently campained to have her dosage reduced. It seems that a one-month supply at her previous dosage (if you are not sitting, this would be a good time) costs $7000. Seven Thousand Dollars. That would be $232 per day. Which I'm getting for free.
I started this entry on Friday, the 22nd and am finishing it on Tuesday, the 26th. I'm here at Georgetown starting chemo round #3. Anyway, here I sit at Georgetown Hospital with Rituxin running into me through an IV inserted in my my right forearm. They've given me intravenous Benadryl, which is making me feel about 4 Crown-and-Cokes drunk, and is further limiting my already limited powers of expression.
Next appointment with Dr. Cheson is June 16th at 9:30. Hopefully it will be more productive than the last.
I'm going to nap now.
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