Round Two Commences; London Comes to Washington

Round Two  begins Tuesday.  Harry's short vacation from chemo is officially over. This round is called "consolidation."  (Round One was "induction.") This, it was explained, is because it consolidates the mission of fighting cancer.  (Don't worry, I didn't really understand it either.)  We've been told this round will last eight weeks -- and blood counts will drop after two weeks.  This round will be a more grueling regimen than the first round.

There are several new medications.  First, Harry will be given Cytoxan intravenously which affects the bladder and requires massive IV infusions and drinking lots of water to maintain hydration.  Cytoxan, to boot, has a metallic taste.  Second, he will be given Cytarabine which irritates the eyes and gives flu-like symptoms. And, lastly, Mercaptopurine which causes severe nausea and can lower blood counts.  Harry continues with Erwinia and Vincristine.

There will be spinal taps every week for the first 4 weeks.  This is mostly to inject chemotherapy.   The first day, Dr. Schore told us to expect to be at Children's National for 8-9 hours.  The other days, they expect only four to five hours (meaning 6-7). After his Tuesday appointment, an outpatient nurse will visit the house Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for 'quick' chemo -- administration of Cytarabine.  This saves time and a trip to the hospital.

Do you want to hear more?  Weeks 3 & 4, he needs to be at the hospital four times a week for the triple Erwinia shots as well as spinal taps and infusions.   And those weeks may force Harry to stop biking as bruising is increasing -- not from falling but from rigorous physical activity.  This creates more of a risk for bleeding in the muscles.

Amazingly, Harry handled everything well.  Though he had several headaches, the only nausea he felt was caused by watching Maury Povich: the program featured two sisters who claimed that their babies were fathered by the same man, their cousin, making their offspring simultaneously cousins and half-siblings.  (A paternity test proved one sister wrong to her strong dismay, no less.) 

The long day ended with a visit from Ken's longtime friend, Chris Masek.  Ken and Chris were in graduate school at Sciences Po in the mid-1980s and have been close ever since.  Chris, who is French and lives in London, came especially to Washington to see Harry and Ken.  All of us were deeply touched.

We had planned to stay at the Maseks' home in London in part to watch the start of the Tour de France which opened last week in England to record crowds.  Though Harry wasn't able to see the Tour in person, Chris brought a bit of London to Harry with two major surprises: a 2014 "maillot jaune," the jersey worn by the Tour champion as well as the incredibly cool Rapha uniform of Team Sky, which Harry is cheering for on a daily basis. 

The anesthesia takes effect as Harry gets ready for a lumbar puncture

Chris Masek and Harry in his "Mellow Johnny"

Chris and Harry "Sky Team"



The evening ended with a delicious meal from Amy Shenker and the arrival of Harry's cousin, Jacob, from New York.   Jacob, a junior at Binghampton, will hang out with his younger cousin this week.