RoCkInG The Boat!

		Tuesday, September 25, 2007
		And He Never Sleeps 'cause He's Got Bad Blood So, the Moms & husband arrived in town yesterday afternoon, and I kicked out of work a bit early to go help them unpack and settle into their new temporary digs. In typical fashion, she brought enough food to fill a normal-sized 'fridge (and freezer), along with enough cooking and dishware to outfit a small restaurant. "I just feel more comfortable using my own things," was her rationalization, despite the fact that their "apartment" already had a quite serviceable collection of kitchen items in-stock. Dale is looking and sounding a lot better than the last time I saw him, nearly nine months ago, but in this instance, looks can be deceiving. When I went to shake his hand as I was leaving, he visibly winced at what I thought was a rather moderate grip; this from a guy who used to be strong enough to pinch bottle caps between his thumb and forefinger. He goes in today for some orientation and paperwork, then starts the first round of testing tomorrow, which is supposed to keep him in the hospital for roughly two weeks, at which point the treatment will begin in earnest. The idea, as my mom explained it, is to gradually sift through his blood for healthy cells (T-Cells it turns out, from a quick perusal of the Fred Hutch web site), which are extracted and stored until a sufficient quantity (something on the order of 30 million) are acquired to begin the actual treatment process. They are then re-infused, and the artificially increased population of T-Cells then targets metasticizing cells and kills them. Apparently this treatment has proven highly effective in limited clinical trials, and produces almost no side-effects compared to more traditional regimens such as chemo and radiation therapy. But, it takes about two months to harvest a sufficient quantity of cells, and another month to gauge effectiveness of the procedure, hence the need for the extended stay. Which means, the local branch of the family may be spending Christmas this year in my neck of the woods for a change. Labels: cancer, Family Posted byCOMTE on 1:27 PM

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