Subject: Lesley Update - 12/8 Even when things go well, they don't go smoothly. We met with the neuro oncologist Monday afternoon. He saw us a mere 1-1/2 hours after our scheduled appointment. He looked at her blood workup numbers and said that they were great! He looked at her MRI and said that there was no change over her November 2nd scan! He said, let's do the chemo starting tomorrow morning, and wrote out the prescription for the Temodar and Zofran (anti-nausea medication). Any pharmacy should have the Temodar, says he. I mentioned that Lesley was running a little fever during the day - like 99.7. He said, call me if it gets over 100.0. Then he said, let's take out the PICC. He made a call, and pronounced himself qualified to remove it (evidently if it is stitched into the arm, it requires some training to remove). After all, I am a doctor, he says. So he removes it. How, you say? You guessed it, just by yanking! Actually, a smooth pull, but I coulda done that! Hurrah, no more flushes every 12 hours! Then, off to CVS pharmacy. CVS pharmacist: "Oh, we don't have that. I'll have to order it and I'll have it tomorrow afternoon. By the way, do you know how much those 5 pills cost? $1500!!" Thank God for insurance! OK, not an unexpected event, since the last time the same doctor said that it might take a day for a pharmacy to get the Temodar. Cut to Tuesday late morning. Ring, ring. Actually, chirp, chirp. It wasn't Santa Claus calling, it was Scrooge McPharmacist. "I can't get the Temodar today, but I can get it tomorrow." Arrrgh! Not acceptable, says me. Does any other pharmacy have it? No, he says. So, I told him I'd be in to pick up the prescription (the written one) since I wanted the medicine THAT DAY. But where to find it? No CVS in the area had it, no Walgreens, no OSCO. I bet a hospital would! So I called Lahey Clinic pharmacy. Not too far away, great idea, right? Bzzzz. You lose. Gotta be a Lahey patient to get it. Although they might sell it to CVS who could then sell it to me. Yeh, right. I can just envision the red tape to pull that one off. What about MGH? I called the Brain Tumor Center who transferred me to the pharmacy. 1. Yes, they do serve MGH outpatients. 2. Yes, they do honor our prescription insurance plan. 3. Yes, they have the Temodar in stock in the dosage we need! So, off to MGH I go. I've replaced the 4-way flashers button on the van with the MGH autopilot button. Back home with the worth-its-weight-in-gold Temodar and I decide to check Lesley's temperature. You guessed it! 100.2 at 4:15. Only time all day she broke a hundred. Being a good doobie I call the doctor's office and leave a message. A while later the nurse calls with the bad news. Hold off on the Temodar for another day. If her temp goes above 100 tomorrow (today), they want to run a CBC with differential (whatever that means) on her blood. If it stays below 100, we can start on Thursday. Please! Can we just get started already??? So far today we've had 99.0, 99.5, and 98.7. Did you ever hold your breath waiting for a thermometer to register? It's hard to do. Meanwhile, we've arranged for counseling for the kids. Our first session (all of us are invited) is December 17th. Also, Mr. Chapman, Lesley's dad, will be flying in on Sunday to spend a week with us before my parents fly back in on the 19th. I'll try to send another e-mail once we get into the chemo. Dave -- Dave Baldauf, h/o Lesley, gbm, dx/srg 8/99, rad 9/99, rad completed 10/99, debulk srg 10/99, bone flap removal srg due to infection 11/99, probably starting Temodar 12/99 mailto:dbaldauf@ultranet.com