Bum's Rush

Now that I am so much improved, it seems as though the IPOP clinic team can scarcely contain its enthusiasm for getting me out of town. After seeing today's very good counts, I was presented with the following plan: I will be given tomorrow (Friday) "off", meaning no going in to have blood drawn for tests, and then no waiting around to see if any IVs are required based on the results. Saturday will be a more normal day, with the usual testing procedures; but Sunday I will be off again. On Monday, I will lose my catheter; after that, I will have nothing scheduled until the formal check-out training on Thursday, after which I will be free to go home. I will be expected to return for a follow-up visit in sixty days.

One question that may have occurred to the reader has also occurred to yours truly: After all this tormented maneuvering, is the cancer gone now? That was the point of it all, wasn't it? And If the cancer isn't gone gone, then how much is left, how dangerous is it, and what must be done now to further treat it? Surprisingly, no one at Hopkins is prepared to address any of these questions at this point at time; they are being hand-waved off to the sixty-day follow-up. It will be interesting to see how the Christiana oncologist responds to these queries.