October 18, 2000|

Yesterday was the day – the fateful meeting of doctor and patient. After enduring the weekend in a haze of painkillers, sleeping 16 hours a day and not leaving my apartment once, my parents and I made the 17 block trek to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. There we met with Dr. Craig Moskowitz, the in-house expert on lymphomas and stem cell transplants. He totally is a sharp shooter, telling us like it is, without the candy coating. We really appreciated that sense of honesty. He was very knowledgeable about the disease and our options for treatments.

He was having a rough time figuring out what the problem is with me. In his mind, not all of the timing, symptoms and results added up. To help him get a bigger picture, I am undergoing five tests in the next few days. Quite possibly as soon as Friday or Monday, I will have another biopsy, taking a lymph node out of my abdomen area, and we will start the chemotherapy as soon as late next week. Dr. Moskowitz does not mess around!

The back spasms haven’t returned since I starting taking these super powerful muscle relaxants. Those things can mess you up! Otherwise my back and other muscles have been sore, just requiring my daily dosage of Advil, Oxycontin and Percocet.

Trying to find a place for my parents to stay when they come in town has been an adventure. My roommates have been very accommodating, but in reality we are hoping to get into a Ronald McDonald-like house near the hospital.

That’s all the news here. Thanks for reading, come back for more updates, pictures, and information!