[6:06am]
A little under four hours until the final is due... the pressure is on. Can he handle it? The judges are in-conference... they seem to indicate that...yes, yes he can indeed handle the pressure. The Swiss judge is citing a July term paper in which the protagonist chose to write on his own blog as a method of last-minute procrastination. It looks like the same strategy is in play here... how will it turn out?
[8:00am]
Mmmm, just had a three-egg breakfast with potatoes and italian sausage. Large mocha for added caffeine. Yummy. Now what was I doing?
[9:28am]
Just finished term paper! Wahoo! If anyone is curious about space-based solar power, it will be available at: here for a day or so.
[12:10pm]
Bah! One hurdle ends; another begins... I just got a call from Dr. Irwin's office: One of the nurses (not Becky) just wanted to confirm a pet-CT scan for the 19th! That's too early! My ICE treatment is scheduled to go from tomorrow until Sunday -- more time needs to pass before a scan can be completed... Or *is* my ICE treatment scheduled at all?
Just to be sure, I ask the nurse... "Oh, your treatment is scheduled for the 26th." WTF?!?!?! I'd like it to be known that I have mercilessly *insisted* to everyone that will listen that my ICE treatment starts tomorrow. Each time, both doctors and nurses have agreed. So again, wtf is going on? Grrr...
*sigh* I really wanted to just come home and relax... I finished the term paper, the class is over: I should feel good! Now everything is up in the air. They give me control over one aspect of my treatment: 2 week, or 3 week intervals between ICE. Determinedly, I choose the 2 week interval, thus convincing myself (through cognitive dissonance) that the increased neutropenic risks associated with a 2 week interval is worth the added blow to my evil tumor. In fact, I could delude myself into thinking that treatment occurring just 1 week earlier would cause a net reduction between 50 and 75% (because there is no time allowed to re-grow)! In that case, the ICE treatment has yielded sufficient results and I can proceed with a bone marrow transplant one month earlier! Perhaps that one month will save my life!
Oh wait.. They accidentally scheduled me for ICE a week from now, instead of tomorrow. I see. Scratch all that then. Grr.
[1:38pm]
Ahhhh, relief... Please excuse my momentary psychosis. All is right in the world. Becky has confirmed a 9:00-9:30am arrival time to summit hospital for ICE treatment for tomorrow, the 13th. There was some confusion about a mysteriously early pet-CT scan. It was not Becky's fault, and she is looking into it. Good.. Good. Pulse returning to normal...
[4:12pm]
I'm off to go buy a nice robe for tomorrow. Down to hospital gowns! Maybe I'll be able to find those fuzzy Odie slippers too. :P
[5:46pm]
Can you believe it?? Bed Bath and Beyond refuses to sell bathrobes for men! I guess Hugh Hefner has gone out of vogue. Oh well, I'm probably more comfy in pants anyhow. Truthfully, I'm just trying to find things to occupy my time until Christmas morning.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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15 comments:
I'm getting hungry just reading your blog. Italian sausage, mmm. :)
It's Adam. Nice paper you did there. I don't know if I could ever write anything so elaborate. I had no idea SBSP even existed until today, but the bottom line is it's too expensive to put the SPS into orbit right? What would happen if an object were to block the path between the transmitter and the rectenna? say, an airplane?
Well, the bottom line is that SBSP *can* be profitable for people like the DOD. So it can be done now.
If an airplane passes through the beam, it's totally be fine. (Though, just to be sure, the FAA folks would probably restrict airspace above rectennas).
Glad you got that straightened out. I find it is much easier to know when there are updates on the blog when I have it set as my home page =D
-Adam
Whew, I'm glad too! You're right on top of it, Adam!
After reading Adam's comment I decided to give your paper a miss as DOD and SBSP and FAA and ABVD - just another language to this humble Scot ;0)
Glad the confusion was cleared up - but I'm still confused - you still getting ICE on 19th?
Wishing you a relaxing end of school rest of week.........Vx
ICE treatment is on for tomorrow, as planned. :)
The 19th is the mystery pet scan.
Told you I was confused.......thanks for clarifying!
Have fun killing tumors tomorrow
;0)...........Vx
*sigh of relief* that was a worrying couple hours! Glad it's straightened out.
Veronica - Adam and Austin or two of my four VERY smart offspring (I hesitate to use the word children) so I like to convince myself that some of that must come from me right? It is way over my head too.
Marie
Austin,
I had no doubt that you would finish your paper and that it will be great. I was struck with the picture of your with your hospital gown with Odie slippers - both from the front and the back!
Love,
Mom
I loved those Odie slippers!
Very fine paper! Pristine organization, crystalline declaration without reaching to the point of declamation, fine spelling and punctuation (with one tiny exception). Good way to end your summer session. You should get an A.
As usual, we intend that no day will pass with you in the hospital without a visitor. The easiest evenings for me are Wednesday or Thursday, and I can stay overnight again. I might get myself a roll-up mat or something.
Be sure to tell me what to bring. You'll think of something you forgot.
Those Reed-Sternberg cells will rue the day they were born.
Baaaaah! You can't tell me an error exists without specifying it!!! I'll go crazy! :P
By the way, remember that C- I got in sophomore calculus? Yeah, that wasn't me -- it was because those darn Reed-Sternberg cells were smoking pot in film-class with Epstein-Barr.
They will rue the day. Oh yes. The will rue indeed.
I'll see if I can get you a bathrobe at Macy's. Do you like plushy velour or terrycloth?
About Epstein-Barr virus, the virus which causes mononucleosis ("mono"). It infects B-Lymphocytes (or is it Leukocytes...) too, the ones which in Hodgkin's turn into Reed-Sternbergs. You identify Mono by looking for the abnormal B cells. They have found an association between EB virus and HD. At exactly your age when your HD was found, I had Mono, and was out of work for 6 weeks. Mono is a strange, variable disease which goes unnoticed in some and is severe in others. It often affects the brain causing a temporary depression, chronic fatigue, and reduced cognition. My symptoms were fever, fatigue, rash, and I had secondary viral hepatitis. Researchers have been considering whether the link might really exist, but proving it for a rare disease like Hodgkin's is not going to be easy. If EB does cause HD, then I don't think it will be easy to do anything about it. Once HD exists, it is its own disease quite independent from Mono. Just some speculation.
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