Tom Faranda's Folly

A sad reminder about cancer and lymphoma

This morning the NY Times had a story about the death of playwright Wendy Wasserstein, yesterday at Memorial Sloan Kettering due to “complications of lymphoma”. She was 55.

Wasserstein, whose brother is Bruce Wasserstein, a very well-known and successful Investment Banker, won a Tony and a Pullitzer Prize in 1989 for her play “the Heidi Chronicles”. She was a very prolific playwright. Having never seen anything by her, I can’t offer any judgment on her talent. Here is the NY Times article about her,Wendy Wasserstein Dies at 55; Her Plays Spoke to a Generation - New York Times as well as an op ed tribute by Gail Collins, the Editorial page editor at the NYT. An American Woman - New York Times These will only be available online for free for a week.

Her death is a sobering reminder that despite advances in treatment for cancer and regardless of the fact that lymphoma is one of the most treatable cancers, there are plenty of unsuccessful outcomes. Wasserstein was treated by the same Sloan Kettering Lymphoma Service that is treating me, and they are wonderful and excellent, but there are no guarantees of success.

Here’s a tribute http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001641.html and the obituary http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013000390.html for Wasserstein at the Washington Post. They should be available indefinitely online at no cost.

Former Republican majority leader critiques the Republican Congress

To avoid being labelled a Republican toady by my left wing friends (Ho, Ho, Ho, Chi Minh) on account of the last post, here is an interview with Dick Armey, highly critical of his own party.OpinionJournal - John Fund on the Trail

Armey believes the Congressional Repugs have sold their principles out  for short-term political gain.

Full disclosure, I am a registered Independent.

Alito and the Dems

Now that the eminently qualified jurist is on the Supreme Court, the question should be asked; "Why couldn't people like Schumer and Kennedy been uniter's and not divider's?" Like the Republican's in these cases, as noted on opinionjournal.com:

"well, instead of dividing the country, the Democrats could have voted for Alito--as 41 Republicans did for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and 33 for Stephen Breyer. (Voters rewarded Republicans by handing them control of the Senate at the very next opportunity.)"

And here's the last four minutes of Senator Kennedy bloviating on in the most vicious manner against Alito on the floor of the Senate on Monday. Expose the Left » Kennedy Goes Nuts On The Senate Floor (VIDEO) You have to scroll down and hit "download" when you go to the link.

The latest from JibJab

Here it is - pretty good - http://www.jibjab.com/swf/JibJab_205YearEnd.swf

With thanks to Kathy Americo for sending it to me!

Follow-up to the 20 day hospitalization

I have done some really classical napping the last two days. I also spent about 90 minutes at my office today. I am pretty chemo-fatigued – although Brigid (bless her soul) says I don’t look too bad.

In hindsight, the experience with the morphine was pretty strange, as I think I mentioned a few days ago. Even though I had a very low dose, I definitely had some mental effects, mostly tied into strange daydreams in the hospital, when I was napping. I have no recollection of dreams at night; perhaps because of the Ambien (5-mg. dose) I took most nights. I have spoken to two other people, who also related odd experiences on morphine.

Also in hindsight and as previously related, the IV attachment for 19 days – having to stay within three to four feet of the mobile IV pole – that was weird. On at least three occasions since I’ve been home, I’ve gotten up and said to myself “Opps careful of your IV.”

My weight loss for the stay was 10 pounds – I left the hospital at 151 lbs. I am quite happy about that, but strongly un-recommend the weight loss technique

Interesting study of political party faithful and their brain wiring

I know not everyone visiting this journal will care about the attached excerpt but I found it fascinating, maybe because it reinforced my own thinking!

About a year ago I started receiving an unsolicited eletter from an investment manager, John Mauldin. I'd never heard of him, and usually when I get unsolicited stuff from investment people (who are mostly looking for business from me for my clients) I look at it once and then hit the delete button after that.

However Mauldin periodically has some good stuff in his email - about six weeks ago he did a good job on what is and what is not important about the yield curve inversion - so I usually look at it. (And he never has a sales pitch! No "I can make your clients 20% a year", blah, blah, blah)

Anyway last week he had a short piece about a neuro-physiology study at Emory University of people who were either devote Democrats or Republicans. Basically how they will re-arrange reality to fit their mindset. And the fact that we all do that in our lives, to a greater or lesser extent.

I cut and pasted the piece out of his email and If you wish to read it - it take's about three minutes - just click below.

Sunday - first full day out of the hospital

Boy am I tired. Ninety minute nap this morning and three hours this afternoon.

I got home yesterday around 3:30.

Of course the boys were quite pleased to see me (huge grins), and decided to express their feelings with a few practical jokes, and playing a few games with me on the Playstation. I almost never do Playstation with them, but they love it when I do, since I am the perfect opponent. They always win.

And never because I throw the games. They are too clever for me to do that anymore without their figuring it out. And anyway, at nine and twelve years old, I’d like to kick their butts. But I can’t.

Meanwhile, while all this is going on, Brigid is gazing longingly into my eyes.

Yeah right.

I have a number of things to write about regarding my 20 day stay, but this will do it for tonight.   

Day 20 - noontime - YIPPEE - we are outta here!

I have been discharged!

IV catheter is out - and for first time in 19 days I can walk around without towing the rolling IV stand, which I was attached to by about a four foot tether (the IV tubes). What a relief.

As soon as Brigid gets here, I'll get the disharge papers and be gone. Hope to be back in Croton in time for Brigid to get to Tim's 4 o'clock basketball game

Day 19 - transplant plus 11

The game plan is discharge either tomorrow (Saturday) or for sure on Sunday.

The decision will be made tomorrow and I think it will probably depend on my platelet and red blood cell count. They may decide to keep me until Sunday, give me a platelet transfusion and then release me. One of the nurses said this approach is fairly common – the idea is to send you home with a “full tank”.

My white blood cell count was 2.8 this morning, up from 0.6, so as expected it is rising rapidly (normal is 4-11). 

Brigid and I spoke again to a nutritionist here, who went over diet and food preparation for “neutropenic” people (those with a compromised immune system). We will have to keep with the changes for about two months. They are things like, avoid deli foods, peel all fruit, even after washing it, don’t use your pepper shaker at home (didn’t know that pepper is full of bacteria), stuff like that.

I have started eating more. Mouth sores are almost completely gone. The nutritionist said that because I’ve eaten so little in the past ten days, it would take my body awhile to adjust to anything but small meals.

So almost at the end of a long haul that started in September. I confess to some feeling of relief.

Day 18 - transplant plus 10

Pretty much all good news! As expected, my white blood cell count did start rising yesterday – this morning’s blood test showed the count had gone from 0.1 to 0.6 since the day before.

To get discharged I need the count to go above 1.0 and stay there for two days, my mouth sores have to abate so I don’t need the morphine pump, and I have to show that I am taking in enough fluids. And of course develop no other complications, fever, etc.

I expect the counts to go above 1.0 tomorrow. And my mouth and throat pain has eased considerably in the last 24 hours. I wont have any trouble with fluid intake.

So should be good to go Sunday. That would make the hospitalization exactly three weeks, which is what the transplant Doc, Dr. Kewalramani, said it would be.

I’ll be talking to Dr. K tomorrow and hope to get the conditional approval on discharge.

For the next two months, I will have to modify my activity, as well as have some dietary changes. Initially I will see Dr. K once a week, and then less often as the two months progresses. Will write more about these aspects of things as my discharge becomes more imminent.

I am suffering from chemo fatigue, from my six days of chemotherapy from the ninth to the fourteenth. My red blood cell counts are askew, and today I had my fourth transfusion of platelets. All standard stuff, nothing out of the ordinary

Only sour note of the day was that my oldest son Joe had a fever this morning and had to stay home from school. Should clear up by Sunday, if it doesn’t we’ll have to live in separate sections of the house when I get home!

Latest read – Praying Self-Abandonment to Divine Love

This book was given to me by my friend Theresa Bonopartis. The actual title in the United States edition (the one I have) is In the Arms of Mary, but the title in all the other countries (45) where it’s been published is Praying Self-Abandonment to Divine Love. That’s an awkward but much more accurate description of the book. I don’t know why they changed the title for the U.S. edition (Mary sells?).

The author, Slawomir Biela, is involved in a worldwide group called the Families of Nazareth Movement. I had never heard of them – I gather there are only about 3,000 members in the United States. But they must be having an impact elsewhere – there are five different forewords in the book, written by five different Cardinals (from the U.S., Spain, South Korea, Mexico, and the Philippines).

Biela seems to be an interesting guy – he is Polish and earned a Doctorate in Physics, before studying the Theology of Spirituality and becoming involved in the Nazareth Movement.

The introduction gives a famous Karl Rahner quote to the effect that the Christian of the 21^st century will be a mystic, or will not be a Christian at all.

I read the book over the time I was here in Sloan Kettering – besides the forewords and introduction, there are fourteen chapters and I read one each morning. My experience has been that it’s much more profitable to read this type of book slowly over a period of time, rather then in a few days.

It is an excellent book; like many books of this type, a call to self-confrontation and conversion. And of course, in many ways that makes it a very “tough” book. Not tough to read, per se. It’s actually an easy read. Just tough to buy into.

For example the first chapter in entitled “to Pray with the Attitude of the Tax Collector”.

(Remember that story? The Pharisee and the tax collector? Lk 18: 9-14). Other chapters have titles like “the Lost Sheep on the Shepherd’s Shoulder’s” and “To Trust in the Example of the Canaanite Woman”. The last chapter is “In the Arms of Mary”.

So I found it to be a fine work – thank you Theresa for the gift. I am going to look into other books by the author, and his collaborator in the Nazareth Movement, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer.

Here are two websites, the first the Families of Nazareth Movement in Ontario: http://www3.sympatico.ca/familiesofnazareth/Index.htm

and the In the Arms of Mary Foundation in Colorado Welcome to In the Arms of Mary Foundation

Day 17 - tranplant plus 9

A couple of little developments today.

While my white cell count has not really started up as of this morning’s 5 AM blood test – it was 0.1 – my red blood cells and hemoglobin numbers had improved after the transfusions of whole blood and platelets yesterday.

And as the today went on, I realized that my mouth and throat sores were a little bit better, indicating that my white cell count may be going up, and they are fighting the foreign invaders in my mouth. Tomorrow is day 10 post transplant, the day when the white cell count typically shows an improvement, so I am betting that the blood test tomorrow morning will show that my white cell count has started up.

Dr. K., my transplant Doc, came around about lunchtime and we discussed my discharge. It looks like Sunday is a real possibility, assuming the cell levels rise as expected, and no negative issues arise.

I had a visit this morning from my friend Tom Crowley, who was in New York for a business meeting. I played rugby with Tom in the 70’s for Essex, and he was a big hitting center. He was one of the founders of Essex, along with Bill Connolly (see post from a few days ago about Bill).

Tom is still an extremely fit guy, and in the picture below, you can tell he’s got a big grin on under the mask!

Rogues Gallery from the past few days

I missed posting pictures from the past two days, so here are the visitors.

Here is Sue Carmody, who has worked at Sloan Kettering for a long time, paying me her second visit yesterday. She is a friend of Bill Connolly and Tom Crowley.

And here is Dick Gunderman and Joe, who visited me on Monday. Dick is being treated for the exact same lymphoma I have, by the same lymphoma guru, Dr. Zelenetz. He is about nine weeks behind me, in terms of his chemotherapy (Dick is the guy with the baseball cap, with no hair under the baseball cap.)

Joe found my web journal while doing some online research for his friend, and then contacted me. The had already visited me last week when Dick was down for the Rituxin portion of his first RICE chemo protocol.

Day 16 - tranplant plus 8

Well so much for not receiving any whole blood while I’m here. This morning the team came in and said, today you are getting whole blood and platelets.

My hemoglobin hit 8.0, which is the point at which you are given blood when on chemotherapy, and my platelets went below 20 (14 actually) so I got both. It was the third platalet transfusion and first whole blood.

I’m sure I needed it – from yesterday afternoon through this morning I felt tired – in fact I was thinking they would tell me I needed blood.

My white count is still at zero.

But other then tiredness, I feel fine. The mouth pain is easily manageable. Puts you off eating, though. All I had today was a little pasta and a small cup of pudding.

Brigid was in this morning, after busing to Washington on Monday with Joe – the March for Life. 

And late in the afternoon Sue Carmody paid me a second visit.

This evening I spent over an hour with Joe online and on the phone, helping him with his math mid-term prep. I think he thinks It’s pretty cool to do this stuff by instant messaging. Of course I don’t know all the abbreviations, which slows things down at my end – I have to take time to figure out what he’s written me! We’ll see how effective this technique is, when he gets the test back.

Still need to put the pictures of some visitors onto the laptop so I can post them. “Well then, what are you doing all day, Tom?” Today I did a lot of napping, made some long calls to clients, and sent out quite a bit of email. I am getting lots of email from people, which I appreciate. Did virtually no reading, except stuff online, which tires the eyes out, since one thing I can’t do here is print anything.

So the wait continues for my white blood cell count to start rising, which should start around Thursday. They said the stay here would be three weeks, which is Sunday. I would have liked to get out earlier, but I may be right on schedule for Sunday discharge.

Day 15 - transplant plus 7

Not really any change today. We are still at zero for the cell counts and waiting for the “engrafting” and the counts to go up. Mouth and throat no change, still very manageable with the morphine pump.

The new attending physician – the transplant docs take two week turns making rounds on the floor and he took over from Dr. Comenzo - is Dr. Ejali. I asked him this morning why I hadn’t needed any whole blood transfusions, only platelets. “It’s very unusual,” he said. I also asked him if the high dose chemo would eventually cause my newly returning hair to fall out (It still seems to be growing in. I have to shave every couple of days.)  The nurse practitioner jumped in and said “yes”, but the Doc said “Maybe, maybe not.”

Dr. Ejali then said, “The fact that you haven’t needed whole blood or had more problems, doesn’t mean the chemotherapy isn’t working.” He said occasionally some people worry that if they are not suffering enough the chemo is not functioning!

He finished by saying “You have an unusual body.” I said “I’ve been told that by other people.”

I had some more cool visitors today, but haven’t had a chance to download their pictures off the camera. Will get to it tomorrow.

I finished 1776. See the previous post.

Latest read - "1776"

I finished 1776 today, and what a really fine, fine book. I couldn't recommend it more.

Gary McCullough’s narrative history of the year of the Declaration of Independence, from the human perspective of George Washington, his army and his opponents.

There is some special interest for those of us who live in the New York metropolitan area, because so much of what happens occurs on Long Island, in Brooklyn, in Westchester and northern New Jersey.

You don’t have to be a history buff to benefit from the book. It’s really a study of people. For example, why did a corpulent 25 year old named Henry Knox come up with the idea of moving the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga (they’d just been left there when the fort had been destroyed years earlier) down and over to Boston? He had no military background, except from reading books. And how did Washington recognize that Knox might be the man to do it and give him the OK? And then Knox pulls off this incredible feat. 120,000 pounds of steel, through the New York woods, in winter. Possessing the cannons was decisive in forcing the British to abandon Boston. And they provided the bulk of the continental army artillery for most of the rest of the war.

1776 is a pretty fast read, coming in at just under 300 pages. There’s plenty on the British leaders, individual troops on both sides, as well as on the vast majority of colonists who were either loyal to the King, or just apathetic.

The book is a reminder that all social movements, for good or bad, start off as minority movements. It’s not often emphasized that Washington himself was an incredibly wealthy man (In the last election several historians pointed out that the wealthiest President in our history was George Washington, and no other President is even remotely close). He could easily have not cared a whit and sat out the whole Revolution on his plantation. But something motivated him…

Here is part of McCullough’s summation of Washington (page 293):

“He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this, his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up.”

What's the only U.S. Navy ship NOT named for an American?

Why, the USS Winston S. Churchill, of course! Hit the link for it's action today. AOL News - U.S. Navy Seizes Pirate Ship Off Somalia

The reason I know this interesting but useless bit of trivia, is because I got Brigid a "USS Winston S. Churchill" baseball cap a few years ago. When she wears a baseball cap (not very often) it's either that one, or one with "Jamaica" imprinted on it.

Two weeks at MSK - transplant plus 6

An uneventful day (uneventful is good). The staff came in, said things were going well, and I got another platelets transfusion.

My mouth and throat seem better. Perhaps because of the lidocaine mouth rinse and the morphine pump. The nurses can see how many times I’ve given myself a dose, and said that I’m using it sparingly. But I’ve used it whenever I’ve had to.

For the first time in five days I had something to eat besides clear liquids and a little jello or ice cream. I had some vegetable soup at lunch and dinner. Thought I should see how it feels and it wasn’t too bad. I had some mouth and throat pain, which quickly dissipated.

Also had a visit from my good friend Bill Connolly (not the Scottish comedian; the New Jersey businessman). Bill and I played rugby together in the 70’s for the Essex Rugby Club (North Jersey RC traces it’s history back to Essex), at the time one of the top clubs in the Northeast United States. When Bill went into coaching, he was hugely successful, especially at the All-Star level (in rugby they don’t call it All-Star, they call it “select side”, but that’s what it means.)  For a time Bill was on the coaching staff of the U.S. Eagles, the national rugby team.

So what did we do while Bill was here? Watched bits and pieces of a 2001 Ireland v. England rugby international match, of course.

Here’s Bill – you wont be able to tell because of the quality of the online picture, but he’s got a huge grin under that mask.

Day 13 - transplant plus 5

I didn’t post yesterday (so this post is likely to be a jumble) for the following reason: around 8 o’clock as I was firing up the laptop the nursing tech came in to do the vital signs, including temperature. She does everything and then says, “Your temperature is 38° (Centigrade). You have a fever. Are you having chills?

Well 38° centigrade is 100.4° fahrenheit. That’s 100point4, not exactly a big deal.

But in very short order, the tech came back looking for a urine specimen, a big dude showed up with a chest x-ray machine and took a picture, a resident came around and felt me up, the nurse took six blood cultures, and then cultured my medi-port and all three openings on my IV catheter.

Then I was given two different antibiotics by IV.

Nancy my RN last night said, “your fever arrived right on schedule” and tonight a different nursing tech said “Your had your first fever last night? Well when you have your first fever it’s a big shebang.”

The mild elevation cleared up quickly, but I ran out of time to do a posting.

A few changes in things related to my mouth and throat pain and a few more visitors.

Yesterday I got a morphine pump, which allows me to inject1/2 a milligram of morphine through the IV, as needed (but not more often then 15 minutes.) I had been receiving one milligram of morphine every four hours, so it doesn’t take a math whiz to figure I could get more morphine with the pump. The staff also said that another option was to have the pump automatically give me one milligram every hour and that’s what most people settle on. But I think I’ll stay with this configuration, where I have some control.

And it works very well. It’s easy to get relief from the mouth and throat pain. If I’m going to do something with my mouth (like talk a lot) they suggested taking a dose first.

Yesterday I got a visit from Steve Valerio and his wife Jennifer. Steve was the match secretary and then the president of the North Jersey Rugby club for some of the time I was the club coach. A very charming couple (especially Jen). They gave me the book “Coach”, where writers reflect on the impact coaches had in their lives. And Steve wrote a beautiful note in the front of the book.

I also got a visit today from another player I coached, Greg Markowitz. He’d donated some platelets and then came up to see me. But I forgot to take his picture!

Also, got my first shot of Neupogen – the drug which stimulates my bone marrow and newly transplanted stem cells to start producing white blood cells. If my good fortune continues and everything works out, I think it’s realistic to hope to be out of here by next weekend

I realized I have been miscounting the days I’ve been here – today is day 13 – somehow I’d added an extra day in there. Like all my errors, I can blame it on “chemobrain”. Will have to go back and re-number a couple of the postings.

Here’s a picture of Steve and Jennifer.

Day 11 - transplant plus 3

Today was a day of a few firsts.

I got my first transfusion. I had my first return visitor (besides Brigid). I set a personal record for visitors (6). For the first time, I talked and saw the boys on a videophone. I threw up for the first time. And I got my first dose of morphine.

So in order, my platelets count was 14 and when it goes below 20, they give you a bag of them. They have assured me I am going to need more whole blood as well as platelets. Friends of mine have stockpiled plenty of whole blood for me and platelets are starting to pour in, so the Hospital is pleased about that.

Dennis Cannon called and left a voice mail message saying he was headed into Manhattan and was going to stop in, unless I called him back and said otherwise. Dennis had been in on Saturday, along with Denice and the Novotny’s. He arrived a few minutes before Brigid, who got here about 11:15 in the morning.

So the three of us hung out, and I ordered my lunch to be split between the two of them. They decided on salmon.  (See below – no way I can eat anything right now.)

Then the two videophones turned up. My night nurse from the night before, Nancy, saw pictures of Joe and Tim, and said the social workers could supply two videophones, so we could talk and see each other. They arrived while Brigid was here – easy to use – and she took one home. We used them this afternoon, and they worked! Not exactly high definition, but pretty cool anyway. We tried again tonight, but for some reason the video hook-up didn’t work.

Lunch arrived late, so Dennis got the whole thing – Brigid had to get back for the school bus. After eating, Dennis reminded me of his Aunt Lillian, who he’d told me about the prior Saturday. Aunt Lillian was a kind of professional hospital visitor, who tended to overstay her welcome. Dennis said, “I don’t want Aunt Lillian’s reputation” so he took off, after saying, “thanks for lunch.”

A bit later Chris Riat stopped by; having emailed me that he was on his way. He donated platelets and then came up. Chris was a player for the North Jersey Rugby Club, when I was the coach a few years ago. He was a very versatile forward – could play in the front or back row – and was one of these players you loved to have on the field, because he didn’t take any crap. A number of other team’s ex-rugby players get to see Chris’s handiwork every morning when they shave. All in the line of duty, of course.

While Chris was here, and I was talking to him about this journal, two other people suddenly turned up! John Gunderman and his friend Joe. John has mantle cell, is being treated by Dr. Zelenetz, and is about nine weeks behind me in the treatment protocol. I had corresponded by email with Joe, but never with John, and I was glad they came by (John had come in for the rituxin treatment). Joe had found the journal through a link with the Lymphoma Information Network, and contacted me several times by email.

I was really pleased. SOLIDARITY.

Shortly after Joe, John and Chris left, my friend Tom Sullivan came by. He stopped in briefly and then went down to donate his platelets. Tom is a guy I played rugby with, and he’d taken the initiative to organize blood and platelet donors among my former rugby-playing friends.

IMPORTANT RUGBY NOTE  – as rugby people know, rugby friends are forever.

On the side effect/treatment front.

Last night I did get a pain med for my throat and mouth – I think it’s called oxycodine. Worked pretty well and zonked me out for the night. This morning I took a half dose.

I haven’t been eating much at all the last three days,  – mostly drinking fluids or have jello, etc. My stomach has been queasy. This morning I ordered cranberry juice, vanilla yogurt and tea with lemon. I had a little bit of each (Maybe not a great combination?) felt nauseous, and tossed it all up into the little kidney dish they give you. Not a big episode – the whole thing lasted less than 90 seconds. After more than four months of chemo, this is the first time I’d sicked up.

Right now, if I take anything other than water or ginger ale at room temperature, I go queasy.  So that’s all I’m taking.

This afternoon, around four, and after everyone had left, I got another half dose of Oxycodine. But two hours later my mouth and throat was really sore, so Pam my nurse said, try the morphine. I did – a small dose by IV and it did the trick.

Right now – 11 PM – I just got another morphine dose for the night.

So it’s just a question of waiting these things out – about nine days to go!

Tenth day at MSK - transplant plus 2

Hard to believe I’ve been here already for ten days. So hopefully about the halfway point.

Today my white blood cell count reached the 0.0 level, as expected. So for the time being, I have no immune system. On Saturday I will start receiving injections of Neupogen, to help stimulate my stem cells to rebuild the immune system. From Saturday, they expect that to take seven to ten days.

Still mild side effects. Mostly related to the entire length of my alimentary canal. It’s amazing how conscious the staff is to ameliorating any pain issues. I have a standing order for morphine for a sore mouth/sore throat! Pretty heavy stuff for a sore throat, but they tell me that’s standard. I will only use it if things get a lot worse – they’ve also given me all sorts of mouthwashes including lidocaine. I have only used the bicarbonate mouthwash so far but will use the lidocaine tonight.

I have cut back on my food intake, after eating like a pig last week. Mostly because of the possible mouth pain / alimentary canal issues. When I came in on the ninth, I weighed 161 pounds, which was a four or five pound weight gain over the holidays. On chemo the first six days, my weight went up to about 165, but this morning was about 159. I stopped using the dumbbells after the transplant (that was the recommendation) but have used this little cycling machine they have in the room, for about 30 minutes a day. It’s a little machine that doesn’t give you any real workout, but it’s better than nothing.

By the time I get out of here, I may be back to my old rugby-playing weight of about 150! Haven’t been there in over seventeen years.

Note from guest writer Brigid – Tim’s song for Dad

(Tim likes to sing this before he goes to sleep and he told me he sings it to himself when he is at school!)

I love Daddy, I love Daddy

I like Daddy, I like Daddy

Who doesn’t like Daddy?

Everyone likes Daddy.

Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Daddy

(First sung January 10^th, 2006, Tom’s second night at MSK.)

Here's Tim at West Point this past September.

Transplant plus 1

It's midday and Brigid is here. I am tired (but not exhausted - more like the chemo fatigue I felt with the RICE protocol). My cell levels are low - white blood cells almost to zero, platelets at 44. And there's a metallic taste in my mouth.

This is all as expected. When my platelets go below 20, they'll give me a platelet transfusion. In four days (transplant plus 5) I'll be given some meds to stimulate the stem cells to start producing white blood cells.

Otherwise, that's it! Not bad at all. Hard to believe that tomorrow will be the tenth day I will have been here.

The report from the home front is encouraging. Quote from Brigid: "The boys are doing very well, helping their Mom, getting along very well. Joe helps on technical things, Tim is getting very good at making cookies, tea, and hot chocolate. Helping me put the car in the garage. Very sweet things. He does spar with his grandmother, though."

Yeah, that's Tim.

Transplant went well

Got my white blood and stem cells back today at 10:15 in the morning - 4 million of them in one large syringe. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes. Side effects included feeling warm and a funny, metallic taste in my mouth.

And - they'd given me some sort of sedative, so I was pretty zonked out until around 4 in the afternoon.

Here's a picture, taken by Brigid. The cells are being injected in through the IV catheter in the front of my right shoulder.

I feel fine!

Day seven and more pictures

The attending physician and the nurse practitioner were both very optimistic this morning about how things are going. In fact they suggested I might be out in ten or 12 days rather than in two weeks. Hope they're right.

The nurse practitioner, who has been talking to me, Lorraine, wont be here tomorrow for re-injection of my cells. But the last thing she said as she left was "I'll remember you in my prayers", which I appreciated very much.

Had more visitors this weekend. Yesterday the Novotny's and the Cannon's. Wine in cups is Beaujolais - I had to offer them something!

Then today, the Riner's arrived. Here's Mike and Karen, as well as a little view of the foot of the bed and the artwork on the wall, the room computer screen, etc.

The bottom picture is of Matt and Lauren, Mike and Karen's two children, who also schlepped into the city today!

They all helped finish the beaujolais.

And my brother Phil also came by. He stayed around about two hours, and had the Maryland crab cakes for lunch. But no picture.

I mentioned it before, but it's worth saying again - for institutional food, the food at Sloan Kettering is very good. This evening I ordered the "classic pub burger" for dinner, thinking I'd get a small hamburger. Instead "room service" brought up a huge cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, a pickle and vast amounts of french fries. And really quite good. I am gaining weight.

Day six and some pictures

Still feeling good. The nurse practitioner Lorraine discussed my stem cell return, scheduled for Monday at 10:30 in the morning. It will take less than 30 minutes.

More on that tomorrow. Here are two pictures from yesterday, when I was visited by two Islamic women from Croton.  First Brigid, then my friend and assistant Judy. Judy gave me the robe. Matches nicely with the hospital gown, don't you think? Note - my hair is starting to come back! you can just about see it.

Friday night fifth day update

11:15PM and I am having my last dose of chemotherapy, which will run until after midnight. This is my eighth cycle of Etoposide, which I’ve received every 12 hours since Tuesday (Monday I had something else – can’t remember the name) at 10am and 10pm.

Saturday I will get a dose of Melphalan, in the morning and then no more chemotherapy.

The description of the various chemo drugs I’ve gotten this time around all say the same thing: “stops cancer cells from growing by interfering with DNA, the genetic material in cells”.

Sunday is a day off, and then on Monday I’ll have my stem cells and white blood cells re-injected through the IV catheter, a process that will take around 30 minutes.

If all goes according to schedule, my blood cell levels will suddenly drop as a result of the chemotherapy, sometime around Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. They will go close to zero. This is when the side effects kick in, and I’ll be getting blood and platelet transfusions over the space of several days.

My blood counts should start rising in a few days (as the stem cells “know what to do”, migrating back to the bone marrow) and then suddenly zoom up, in a mirror image of how they first dropped. If you graph it out, it looks a little bite like the mouth on a smiley button.

So that’s the situation. Compared to what many other people are having on this floor - transplants of stem cells or bone marrow from donors – I have it pretty easy. I haven’t met any patients, even though I am allowed to go out of my room (that will change when they give me my cells back) since most everyone is confined to their rooms. There are a total of 25 rooms on this floor, all for transplant patients, and essentially the rooms are always filled.

Brigid was here again today, along with my friend and assistant Judy Anderson. Will post some pictures tomorrow.

Dueling opinions on Judge Alito

Despite lying around in the hospital with lots of free time, I had no stomach to watch the senate judiciary hearings on Alito. Chemotherapy hasn't given me nausea, but the senatorial windbags speechifying and playing to the cameras - that brought it on if I watched for more then two minutes at a time.

Here are two contrasting opinions from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

The NYT Pro-Choice Senators and Judge Alito - New York Times. The NYT column is free for one week. If you miss it and want it, email me and I'll email you an archived copy.

Ann Coulter.Welcome to AnnCoulter.com for the Jan. 11th column entitled "Fork Replaces Donkey as Democratic Party Symbol". Coulter will have a new column up in about five days, so after that you'll have to go to her "memory bank" link to find the column.

Bremer, Iraq Coalition Director, on rights and wrongs in Iraq

Paul Bremer had a worthwhile op ed in the NY Times this morning.In Iraq, Wrongs Made a Right - New York Times

He offers his defense for the Iraqi policy.

A little English humor!

My good friend John Brown is a teacher and the head of the science department at his school in England. Evidently not that impressed with my reading list.

Here's his email to me:

Dear Tom, Just been on your website and great to hear things are going well apart from the insomnia. Mind you having that will give you time to get through those books! I just thought you would  have taken a few more high brow ones rather than the lightweight ones you chose. Anyway must get back to my comics. Thinking of all of you. Best wishes .   JB.

Day three and things are going well

It's 11:30pm of day three, and so far there have been very little in the way of side effects. Only issue is some insomnia - I am given the chemo at 10AM and 10PM, and there are steroids in the mix, which make it difficult to get to sleep. And of course people traipse in at all hours - perish the thought that they would skip taking vital signs at 4AM and asking if you pooped.

Yesterday I used the little peddling machine for 52 minutes. You sit in a regular chair, fit your shoes in the stirrups and use the machine - not great but better than nothing. And today I peddled for 16 minutes and then was able to do some dumbbell work. The room is not quite big enough to do more than a limited workout, even with dumbbells, but again it beats watching Oprah. I will exercise every day, but will have to give up the dumbbells when I get the transplant on Monday.

The food is fine, but i am tryng to not eat too much, what with my limited activities. And the diet will change when I go "Neutropenic" with the very low cell counts next week. This is to reduce the chance of infection. When I leave I will have a modified neutropenic diet for several weeks, with the same goal. No cold cuts, unwashed fruit or vegetables, things like that.

hopefully wine will be on the menu!

To see what else I'm doing, check the posting below.

Books I have brought with me for my stay

I basically have four books with me, with two as reserve at home.

I am reading three of them simultaneously. Why not? They are all three on varied topics and from different sources.

My friend Theresa Bonopartis sent me a book which in most countries is entitled “Praying Self-Abandonment to Divine Love”, but in the English-speaking world has been re-titled “In the Arms of Mary.” It was written by Slawomir Biela, a Polish man who after getting a PhD in physics decided to get degrees in the theology of spirituality. I’d never heard of him, or the group he primarily writes for, the Families of Nazareth Movement.

But the book, so far is excellent. The first chapter is entitled “To Pray with the attitude of the Tax Collector” so you have an idea what point the author makes right off the bat. The book had been translated into 46 languages and there were five forwards written by Cardinals from five different countries. (U.S., Mexico, Philippines, Spain, and Korea).

So that is the morning reading.

Now the afternoon book is far and away the toughest I’ve read in a long, long time. When I was in college at Fairfield I took a course on Martin Heidegger and Alfred North Whitehead. A Chinese teacher taught the course (Lik Kuen Tong, who is evidently very highly respected as a philosopher today in China), and the course title was “Existentialism and Process Philosophy”. It was very fascinating, but because of the great difficulties in reading the main books of the two men, we read commentaries.

So I decided to go back to Heidegger’s book - "Being and Time" - and read it (I always wanted to and figured here is a good opportunity. But no, not in the original German). Written in 1927, this book asks the question “What does it mean to be?” and proceeds with an analysis from the perspective, of course of human beings.

Heidegger’s insights have had profound influence in many areas, psychology, theology, the sciences, etc.

So I’ve started working my way through the book, with the help of the original commentary (with the very original title “A commentary on Heidegger’s Being and Time”!) I read in college. So far, slow going (Heidegger is notoriously difficult), but very worthwhile.

The evening book is “1776” by the historian Gary McCollough, a pleasure to read. It is a narrative of the crucial year for the American Republic of 1776. Of course much of the book is going to be about George Washington. 

I also brought along a book I’ve already read, “Sadhana” by the late Jesuit, Anthony de Mello. The book is subtitled “Christian Exercises in Eastern Form”. Perhaps I’ll get to it after finishing the morning book.

I have two books in reserve at home. One is “The Elusive Quest for Growth”, a highly recommended book that is about economic and social development efforts in the “Third World”. Having lived in the Third World, it’s a topic I am interested in, and the book is supposed to be very good.

Also on the bench, is the current hot history work “Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. My friend Bill Connolly gave me the book, and I will start it after I finish “1776”.

I’m trying to get in about four hours of serious reading a day while I’m in Memorial. In addition to that I’m online reading the papers and emailing or IMing various people, calling some clients, calling the family, taking calls form my nine year old Tim, and getting instant messaged by the twelve year old, Joe. No time for rest! Of course you can’t get any rest in a hospital anyway.   

Washington Post on Arlen Specter and his lymphoma

Specter worked while going through chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease and is now back to full speed. Sen. Arlen Specter, Back in Top Form

Another Post article - new record for spending on health care

Here's the link:Record Share Of Economy Spent on Health Care 

First day at Sloan Kettering for chemotherapy and stem cell transplant

We arrived at one o’clock, had some admission tests done and got upstairs to the room around three o’clock. The room is very nice with all the amenities they had mentioned – computer, DVD/VCR player, and plasma TV (but not a big one!).

I was checked in by a nurse practitioner by the name of Francine, who wasn’t too impressed by my bringing dumbbells. I had to assure her it was OK with Dr. K, and I wouldn’t be using them after the transplant.

Then it was down to the radiology department a few minutes to four (Brigid left at that point) for my catheter implant. It was put in on the front of my right shoulder, but over toward my clavicle.

Chemo started this evening and will run until about 11 o’clock.

So all is well.

Thanks to one and all for the prayers and good wishes!

I have received many lovely notes, emails, and face to face sentiments, which are greatly appreciated by everyone in my family.

My good friend all-the-way-back-to-college Dennis Cannon sent me an email in which he said “I'd like to call it an adventure, because I think you kind of see it as a unique challenge. Like climbing Everest.” And my friend Paul Dinter said after Mass yesterday  “You are off on your chemically assisted Retreat.”

I thought those were pretty accurate ways of putting things (although climbing Everest – I don’t know that’s a heck of a high mountain!). I’ve got a bunch of books, internet access, some time on my hands, and I hope to be able to put it to good use.

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If you're given an lemon, make lemonade.

Latest read - "The Power of Intention"

My friend Ellen Mullin gave me a book by Wayne Dyer entitled The Power of Intention.

I had vaguely heard of Dyer – he is a “self-development” or human development guru. He has a psychology doctorate and has written a bundle of books, the best-known early one being Your Erroneous Zones.

I like to read self-help books occasionally, just to remind myself of certain basics that all the books agree on.

If you can imagine Norman Vincent Peale meets “The “New Age”, that sums up the book. Dyer quotes people from every religious background – swamis, saints, gurus, Carlos Casteneda – as well as scientists and literary figures as he makes the case for getting your mind/spirit/soul in tune with the infinite mind/spirit/soul/god.

Here’s a quote: “Know that this is a universe that works on energy and attraction. Remind yourself that you have the power to attract the right people to assist you with any desire, as long as you’re able to shift from ego-driven energy to match up with the all-providing Source of intention.” (P. 209)

In the last chapter (15), Dyer describes “A Portrait of a Person Connected to the Field of Intention”, which presumably is him.

So the book is all right. Three stars. But you have to accept that New Age thinking has some valid insights.

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There was another issue. Dyer gives attribution to the persons who gives the quotes that he liberally sprinkled in every chapter, but not where he got them from. There were absolutely no footnotes. That might be OK in this type of book, BUT when he quotes Max Plank (the scientist - quantum theory, etc) on pages 70-71 and gives a reference in the text - saying the quote is from Plank's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. But when you check the actual text of the speech (on the Nobel Prize website) - the quote isn't in there! It's a wonderful quote (especially if you know that Plank had lost three of his four adult children in the prior four years) but who knows who made it up or how many other quotes are mis-attributed - or worse.

I would first suggest that anyone interested in reading a self-development or self-help book start with Norman Vincent Peale’s classic “The Power of Positive Thinking.”

Four months of journaling

I started this webjournal exactly four months ago, on September 8th.

After about a month I migrated the journal from it's original home on blogspot over to typepad. Or rather my brother Phil did. I complained to him about something on blogspot, and he just moved everything over to here (and paid the first year cost - blogspot is free; tyupepad costs about $8 a month.)

This is the 119th posting by me. There were 108 comments left and I have received many emails - probably more than comments. A bit less than half the postings were about lymphoma or related medical issues, but they were generally the long postings, so I think most of the journal is about lymphoma and my chemotherapy, and not my other thoughts, references, etc, on life.

I have been surprised at the number of people I don't know, who are reading the journal. I've received comments and especially emails from all over the country (OK, not from California - yet). These have come from people who found the journal after googling either "mantle cell" or "lymphoma" or through the Lymphoma Information Network website. The Network had a link to this journal within about six weeks of my starting it.

For anyone new to this journal, who is interested in my lymphoma and related medical issues, but who doesn''t want to wade through the almost sixty postings in the category on the left "My lymphoma and related medical issues", here are links to some of the more important posts.

My second post was on September 19th Tom Faranda's Folly: Chemotherapy Tomorrow and gives the background to my diagnosis on 2003 and the rationale for starting my chemo two years later.

Here's a short one on September 23rd, dealing with my then eight year old Tom Faranda's Folly: Pending hair loss and bathroom repartee with #2 son

Here's some info on RCHOP, a routine chemotherapy for lymphoma  Tom Faranda's Folly: More on chemotherapy

On October 12th I wrote this Tom Faranda's Folly: Exercise, Cancer and Chemo , which I got no comments on, but quite a number of emails.

Here's a little conversation with a Maryknoll priest with my identical lymphoma Tom Faranda's Folly: Dinner with a mantle cell survivor

Here is a really valuable post - October 21 - very important! Tom Faranda's Folly: On being your own advocate Again I got a number of emails, but no comments left on the journal.

The assessment after the first stage of chemotherapy (the outpatient RCHOP)Tom Faranda's Folly: Good News from Lymphoma Guru

And a little about my first (of two) in-patient chemo's Tom Faranda's Folly: Midday of RICE, day 2.  Mildly amusing.

Another meeting with Dr. Zelenetz on November 23 Tom Faranda's Folly: Latest Meeting with the Lymphoma Guru laying out the pending plan.

Here's the story on how my stem cells were collected Tom Faranda's Folly: Good news on stem cell collection

My physical state - as expected - not great after 4 RCOP's and 2 RICE's Tom Faranda's Folly: Of eyelashes and eyebrows; backs and pain

We waited until about ten days before the long hospitalization to tell my two sonsTom Faranda's Folly: Telling the boys about my upcoming hospitalization

And here's a bit on my hospitalization, starting tomorrow Tom Faranda's Folly: A little more on my January ninth hospitalization for three weeks

So there are thirteen posts - take less than twenty minutes to read them all - for anyone new to the journal, who is interested in the story, but not in reading all the posts!

Ye olde reality check at the gym

Went to the gym in the early afternoon, and when I finished on the bike, I “hit the weights.” However the chest pressing machine I like to use was in use, so I decided to do some bench presses – specifically the sets and reps I used to do as a strength test.

I stopped doing bench presses as part of a regular routine five or six years ago, when I decided the benefits were not worth the risk of injuring myself, and switched over to using a Cybex chest press machine. The benefits of the machines are not as good, but on the other hand there’s less likelihood of an injury, dropping the weights on yourself, etc.

However, every three weeks or so, I would do a simple bench routine, just to be sure I wasn’t quietly deteriorating. I would do five sets of five reps, with my knees bent and my feet up flat on the bench (so all the effort is through the chest, shoulders and arms). I would do it with the bar and two of the large discs for a total weight of 135 lbs., and with one minute between sets. To some people this sounds like a lot of weight while others (especially my rugby friends) are rolling around laughing at what a weak wuss I am ("Hey Faranda, what's your max?").

18 months ago I started doing three weight sessions a week, rather than two, (on the theory it was good for my immune system) and added a sixth set.

Prior to starting chemotherapy I was able to pretty well cruise through the sets – a little difficulty but always able to finish them with good form.

When the medi-port was installed in early September, I stopped the benching. The port’s installed midway between my left clavicle and left nipple, just below the skin. It’s made the chemo easier on my veins than having IV’s put in my arm – the nurses simply stick one needle through the skin and into the port (which feels like it’s made out of a hard rubber – I have actually never asked) and the chemicals go into a very large vein. And when it was installed, it seemed common sense that banging it with a barbell of 135 lbs. was a bad idea. So I stopped the benching.

But today I thought, “Just be careful and let’s see how we do.” In the last two weeks I’d gotten my weight training routine back to where it had been on the machines.

But the bench results were not good. I was surprised at the difficulty I had. I did five sets, and here were the reps: 4-5-4-3-2. I pushed myself, without going crazy – stopped when there was any chance of failing to complete the next rep. Can’t drop the weight on the port!

So – we can say for certain that four months of chemotherapy has knocked back my strength – on a guess about 20%. This despite the fact that I am back to the same routine on the machines.

I’d hate to do a cardiovascular test – say a run! Even though I am back to where I was on the bike and elliptical trainer (just about, anyway), I bet my cardio capacity is also off. 

Wall Street Journal opines on Abramoff

The Journal had a good editorial today "Cleaning House," on the lobbyist Abramoff, his plea deal, and the Republicans. They've put it up on their opinionjournal.com website (so it's free).

Go here: OpinionJournal - Featured Article

The disdvantage of going to the gym in the evening

Is that you then have trouble getting to sleep.  I just spent from 9:30 to 10:30 in the gym and it’s great from the point of view of not too many people there. But now I’m not going to be able to get to sleep before 1:30 or 2. Not good. I only go to the gym in the evening if there’s no other option and today there was no other option.

But the gym sessions are going well. I am doing my same weight regimen, and the cardiovascular has almost caught up to what I was doing before chemotherapy. This week I will only miss one day in the gym.

Tonight I made some changes and did some dumbbell work, since I’ll only have dumbbells with me in Sloan Kettering. Some of my friends think the dumbbells-in-the-hospital-room is nuts. But I think as long as I am very careful and don’t do stupid things (like use them when I’m on analgesics) they will actually help me feel better and recover quicker.

We will see.

Afternoon with the Gagnon's

On January 2nd we had a very pleasant afternoon dinner with our friends Damian and Jeanne Marie Gagnon, and three of their four children (Nate, Philip and Kathleen; Monica had gone back to college).

Here's a picture of Joe and Brigid (note social lubricant in front of Brigid.) And Jeanne Marie. Perhaps listening to Brigid?

Major advance in ovarian cancer treatment reported today

Both the NY Times Gain Reported in Combating Ovary Cancer - New York Times  and the Washington Post Abdominal Treatment For Cancer Promising report this morning on a chemotherapy regimen that the National Cancer Institute is recommending.

To quote from the Washington Post article: "...the National Cancer Institute is urging doctors to begin using the procedure, its first endorsement of any cancer treatment since 1999."

The NYT article is a little bit longer and more comprehensive than the WaPo article, but the Times will only allow free access to it for seven days. The WaPo article should be available indefinitely. I have archived the Times article in email format for anyone who would like it.

Here's a comprehensive negative review of the Canadian Healthcare system

Below is an excellent web posting. Coincidentally, since I am bashing the NY Times (see the post below this one) the author uses columns by NYT columnist Paul Krugman as his foil to highlight the Canadian shortcomings.

The issue of how to provide and pay for healthcare is certainly a difficult one. Part of my financial advisory practice has been as a health insurance broker (currently providing coverage for the employees of about 20 companies) and it's a terribly tough issue for all parties - employers, insurance companies, the employees.

There are no easy answers.

Here's the link The Health Care Lies of Paul Krugman :: Stuart Browning.

Corporate Greed at the NYT? Say it aint so!

This takes the cake. I took it off the Donald Luskin website, which you can visit yourself by hitting the link on the left, "The conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid."

The Hypocrisy of astonishing.

THIS IS RICH...   From TimesWatch:

Business reporter/columnist Gretchen Morgenson loves corporate scandals, and she rounds up the year’s greatest hits for an illustrated, above-the-fold story, “The Big Winner, Again, Is ‘Scandalot,’” for Sunday’s Business section year-end wrap-up.

“Same stuff, different year. That’s one way to look at 2005, the fourth consecutive year in which corporate chicanery loomed large….Greed was on display throughout 2005 as throngs of executives pocketed pay that was even greater than the previous year’s. To hear them talk, they deserved the amounts because -- are you sitting down? -- they enhanced shareholder value. Never mind that many of their companies’ stocks ended the year lower than where they began it.”

Speaking of corporations that had disappointing stock performances in 2005...

The New York Observer reports this week: “A year ago -- on Jan. 3, 2005 -- Times stock closed at 47.2. On Jan. 3, 2006, the stock was trading at a day’s low of 26.16.”

Does that mean that Times bigwigs like Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. didn’t pocket any additional pay? Not exactly, says the Observer:

“According to Times sources, the yearly bonuses -- given to section editors and selected senior staff -- can be equivalent to 20 percent of their salary or even more. Mr. Keller’s memo informed the senior staff that the 2005 bonuses, which will be issued in February, will be lower than the potential maximum. So the real surprise to staffers was, instead, the generous holiday handouts on the paper’s 14th floor. In addition to [Times chief executive Janet] Robinson’s 74,000 shares of free Class A stock, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. received 30,000 shares, worth a bit less than $800,000, plus stock options worth about $4.1 million….The news of executive stock gifts rankled some Times newsroom staffers, who are still smarting from the paper’s layoffs, hiring freeze, reduced expense policy and -- most galling -- the cancellation in December of The Times’ 15 percent discount for employees on stock purchases.”

So, corporate executives got rich while the (relatively) poor employees lost ground or were laid off?

It’s a safe bet that this is one expose of a seemingly heartless corporation that won’t be appearing in the New York Times anytime soon.

New Year's Resolution

I spent more than a few days working through my resolutions and besides the obvious ones (be nicer to the wife, etc), one kept coming back to the front of my thoughts.

I need to work with Tim to get him to really enjoy reading. He's a good reader, but he doesn't enjoy it. Joe really took off as a reader in the third grade and now you can't get his nose out of a book.

Not sure what to do on this. Today Tim chose a book on Jim Abbott (the one handed pitcher who was in the major leagues for a number of years) for his pending book report (it had to be a biography) and I'm thinking that books about sports and sports personalities may be the ticket.

Suggestions on this issue gratefully accepted.

Faye - an aellogenic stem cell transplant patient I wrote about - has left the hospital

On December 23rd I wrote about people who've contacted me and either have mantle cell or have a relative or friend with it. Tom Faranda's Folly: Postings and comments from other mantle cell patients, their family, and their friends

I mentioned Faye, whose family had a weblog going about her treatment, that she'd had a stem cell transplant from her brother and everyone was waiting for the transplant to "engraft." Her transplant is much trickier than mine, since I am only getting my own cells back.

So it's nice to write that Faye left the hospital today. She and her husband will still have to stay near the medical center - I think they've taken an apartment - for the next two months, while the Docs closely follow her. But it's certainly good news! Here's the weblog if you'd like to look in on them. Journey Through Cancer

Washington Post editorial on American Foreign Aid

Here's a pretty interesting editorial in today's Washington Post. Reforming Foreign Assistance

I was certainly unaware that foreign aid had doubled during the Bush years; It doesn't say in the editorial, but I think a big chunk of that was for fighting Aids.

I hope Bush will push Congress to fully fund the Millenium Challenge Account. The NY Times New Year's Day had an editorial mentioning the Challenge Account.  Making Poverty History in 2006 - New York Times

Op ed - God and Politics

Good op ed this morning in the NY Times - Nearer, My God, to the G.O.P. - New York Times - on the dangers of applying Biblical injunctions to simply confirm your political positions.