Friday, two days ago, was the day that the oncologist was to decide whether Ed had to make the special trip to Bellingham on Monday. He was going to talk to Ed and look at the lab numbers and then decide. He didn't talk to Ed: Ed talked to his nurse telling her that he was feeling fine. Presumably the oncologist looked at the numbers and then sent forth, via the same nurse, a message saying that Ed did not have to come down on Monday to be examined in person. On Tuesday, day after tomorrow, is the third chemo session.
And, indeed, Ed appears to be fine and his numbers are looking reasonably well for a person in his circumstances. His hemoglobin and hematocrit are both below the normal ranges, but just barely. His platelets are excellent. His CEA (which measures cancer antigens, with something in the middle that the E stands for), has dropped from 300 to 90 after two chemo sessions, which is good. Unfortunately, his white blood cell counts, which have been okay have been more than halved since the first chemo and are now below normal. But that is, I believe, the price of chemotherapy. And a big price it is since it means he is at higher risk for infections of all kinds.
But, yesterday, he helped me and a neighbor lay a laminate floor in the Orchard House. And today he has been out flying two photographer friends around Point Roberts (particularly the Lily Point area) in search of eagle nests. And tomorrow we are going to trap some carpet for the Orchard House, which will be laid within the next ten days (but by a professional carpet layer), and which event will signal a very big marker in the completion of the Orchard House renovation.
Here we are, and we are doing okay.
N.B. The Sue Lowden plan* for cutting medical costs by bartering with your physician using--her suggestion-- chickens has offered us all some idea of what that bartering would involve. You can see it here, but it is probably worth mentioning that colon cancer surgery would require a payment of over 8,000 chickens. Incidentally, the surgeon's bill just came through and Medicare awarded him $16K which, I take it, would value chickens at around $2.00 apiece. A bargain, unless, of course, the chickens are still alive and requiring a change in that state as well as plucking and dressing. Presumably the docs would be capable of all that activity, however. What the hospital will do with its chickens (an amount as yet undisclosed) is not clear. Serve them in the cafeteria?
* Ms. Lowden is running for U.S. Senate in Nevada, with a plan to replace Harry Reid. Satire is difficult in such circumstances.
