Greetings from Houston

We are now in the MD Anderson system.  I was expecting something similar to the Scottsdale Mayo Clinic.  This place is more like a Titanic versus a row boat when compared to Mayo - very, very big.  This campus contains many hospitals of which MD Anderson is just one.  So it was a bit harder to get around. 

The good news is that there is a specialist here who is known for his work in my condition and that I do fit into a study of an FDA drug that is just about to be released.  This drug allegedly improves the quality of life in myelofibrosis, which is what I have, in 4 of 5 patients.  

I shall have to discontinue my current therapy for two weeks and then return to Houston to begin the new treatment, which fortunately, is in a pill form.  I hate needles.

So we shall just have to wait and see if I am one of the 4 in 5.

We shall return to LV in a few days and hopefully I can see some of you before we return to LV.

Of course, the new therapy does not cure the disease nor does it extend life, but good days are certainly better than bad ones.

Love and Kisses

JLK

Going to Houston

Tommorow Pat and I shall fly down to Houston, or what is left of it after Ike, to register at the MD Anderson Cancer Hospital.  I have no idea what their plans are, as far as this body is concerned, but hopefully it will be beneficial.  You know you are in the health care system when you receive a bill from a hospital even before being seen.  Actually, it was a bill for a review of a May 08 bone marrow biopsy.  The key question is whether I am still in the benign indolent pain in the ass stage of a myeloproliferative disorder, or whether I have morphed into a more aggressive type which carries with it early mortality.  I kind of would like to know the answer to that question.  In the case of the latter, so many nightclubs and so little time.

Given that there is no "cure" for what ails me, I am hoping for an investigational treatment which improves my quality of life.  Have you ever tried to dance until 3 AM with a sore tummy?Believe me, it is not easy.  Who am I kidding.  I haven't seen 3 AM since I was dragged out, as a medical intern, to remove an impaction.

Anyway, I am feeling about the same - lousy, but I keep smiling.  I shall keep you informed of my progress or lack of same, just as soon as I know something.

Wish me luck.

JLK