4.25.06, Articles for the Anal: On GTX

At least one person commented recently that they are proudly anal and like to have the references for articles I mention here, so this is a follow up. An article on the effects of the multi-drug GTX treatment I'm undergoing was mentioned before, but I only had access to the abstract. Now my helpers in the bioengineering community have hooked me up and I have th full text article--I can't post a link to it, but if you contact me privately I can make it worth your while. For now the citation is here:

"Advances in the Genetic Screening, Work-Up and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer," Harold Frucht, MD, Peter D. Stevens, MD, David R. Fogelman, MD, et al. _Current Treatment Options in Gastroenterology_ 7 (2004): 343-354. Again, let me know if you're insomniac and/or curious.

Otherwise, a chemo update: I'm now in my first non-treatment week, or "rest" week. After 14 days of taking the Xeloda pills, big fat ones 2x a day; and then getting about 3.5 hours of IV Gemcitabine, Taxotere, and numerous secondary drugs, on both of the last Tuesdays, now I'm in the body-recovery space. How does it feel? Who knows really. I'd give myself a 6 or 7 today, pretty normal for the uneventful days; just typical pain mgt, some occasional sudden fatigue, working at hydrating and eating. Both of the latter tasks are much more joblike that I would like, but you don't get to choose. It suddenly feels strange to not be taking the 2x/daily drugs now, but I'll take it. I'm also not aware of any changes in how I feel. All my hair has stayed on my head--and the chest hair is still growing back after Dr. Feelgood gave me the full-service massage. BTW, my mother, since I fianlly asked her, says she did realize what was happening while I was being groped, halfnaked on the gurney..... Honestly I'm not sure it's just my mom playing along like she does when someone in the family makes an obscene joke--yep, even the Mormons do it--and my mom doesn't get it, but she'll laugh along anyway, just to be a good sport. Let's see, the last such joke where this happened had something to do with my mom asking if I might go into the kitchen and "toss some salad" before dinner because I'm so good at it, so I ask "Who told you that?" and she responds, "You've always been good at tossing salad." Then me, well, I was nonplussed... Mothers are not supposed to know that kind of thing; and in reality she doesn't. But did she realize that Dr. F was enjoying himself so thoroughly? And I'm still wondering what kind of tip I owe him for that. Do I pay the insurance company? Do I pay him? Should I break a twenty for singles?