It's Sometimes Sunny in Room 423

For the first time since chemo began, Harry woke up smiling and laughing when he emerged from sleep at 11 am.  He had a big breakfast that included French toast as well as macaroni and cheese.

Harry stayed happy all day. We expected Tuesday to be a good day, as it was six days since the first major chemo blast, and our expectations were actually exceeded.  

Harry was delighted to see his Sidwell classmate Jade Lintott and her mom, May Liang. Ken expressed deep gratitude to May and her husband, Jim Lintott; not only are May and Jim good friends who happen to hold market-oriented political views (as does Jade), but Jim, more importantly in this instance (yes, occasionally, even during the days of Obama, there are more important things), is also Chairman of Children's National Medical Center. Jim, who has spent endless hours as Chair -- and the CEO he hired, Dr. Kurt Newman -- have helped make Children's the extraordinarily caring and well functioning institution it is.  Every major medical expert we consulted, from Munster to Los Angeles, including leading specialists at Dana Farber, CHoP and beyond, indicated that this is an excellent place for Harry to be treated, both for the quality of care and the quality of the medical professionals. In addition, the Lintotts have assured that this place, which offers remarkable and loving care, keeps a special eye on us, for which we are profoundly grateful.     

Harry was also delighted to see Sophie Bass, who was Harry's classmate, first for six years at JPDS, and now at Sidwell.  Harry, Jade and Sophie caught up on class news, teachers, and amusing stories as Ken, Felice (Sophie's mom), May, and Pop Pop chatted in the Ronald McDonald/aka Harry Weinstein lounge.

Harry then spent some time on his Wahoo Kickr: an hour doing a workout that would have sent any other member of our family into fatal cardiac arrest.  

After the big workout, and a lunch that included meatballs made by Lisa Schreier, Harry then had visitors from the Sidwell Investment Club: club heads Ali Ahmed, Sam Margolis, and Andrew Sager.  They brought Harry a slew of movies about business (including "Office Space," which Harry watched, and a Monopoly game.)   

David Zimand, the assistant head of school at JPDS, stopped by for a visit and dropped off Eden, as did Vanessa Gluck and Ben May who brought Gatorade.  Vanessa, an anesthesiologist, shared advice on how to beat pain, which Harry needs as he gets ready for another spinal tap on Wednesday.   

The visit was followed by a late afternoon showing of..."Borat" for PopPop as Dad received "psychological counseling" from his friend, the geostrategist Walter Russell Mead. 

For dinner, we followed the sage advice of Leon Wieseltier once again and ordered Radius Pizza, which friends told Leon was a terrific place for those who eat take out pizza.  Harry ate six slices of 18" pizza as well as pasta -- which would have been a normal meal for him two weeks ago -- and, like the aforementioned cycling, would have sent anybody else in the family into fatal cardiac arrest. 

Harry's sister Raina then spent a couple of hours of alone time with Harry before she leaves for Tajikistan later this week.  They spent quality time watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."