Get Ready, We're Converting To the Metric System Any Day Now

This just in. . .

Mom and Dad are back at the RIBM and Dad hasn't felt any nausea from the treatment. Apparently the longest part of chemo. is the final drug, called Mannitol. The Mannitol takes ten hours, and is used to flush the kidneys. His blood pressure is a little high at 176/99, but Mom attributes the high blood pressure to the Missing Visa Card Panic, and not to the chemo. Dad seems to remember someone at the hospital asking to see his ID and his Visa card. Mother says that this did not happen, but the Visa card is missing from his wallet and Jerry is adamant that he was asked to present it at some point during his chemotherapy treatment. Mom called Visa, and the last time Dad's card was used was when he picked up the Schnauzers from their bi-weekly grooming appointment. Nolie has deduced that the missing Visa card is in the shirt pocket of Dad's L. L. Bean Chamois Shirt that he wore that day. Wayne has been dispatched to Kingsborough Drive to corroborate this deduction. The same thing happened to me on the way to the New Orleans airport on the way to Houston last Sunday when, on the airport shuttle, I was unable to find both my American Express card, and my driver's license. They were in my shirt pocket that I wore the last time I was on a plane. Has anyone ever tried to get on a plane without a photo ID? Prepare for inconvenience whenever you see SSSS on your boarding pass.

Mom has to take Dad's temperature every three hours. They are so helpful at M. D. Anderson. When Mom asked if they had a thermometer she could take with her so she wouldn't have to find a drug store in the rain, they cheerfully gave her one. Free. Scaled in Celsius. If Jerry's temperature reaches 38.3 degrees she is to call for a shuttle to the emergency room. I believe 38.3 degrees Celsius is about 101.0 degrees Fahrenheit, but Kyle, Uncle Dick, or Aunt Shirley would know for sure. (Mathlete, Canadians). I did not ask Nolie for any additional detail about the thermometer. I cannot tell you how many thermometers we have thrown away and replaced because no one could remember if it was the people thermometer or the dog one.

Dad is now taking fourteen different medications, twelve daily; and this number is down since arriving in Houston. Dad still feels comfortable, and really, really, liked the chemo. nurse. She had a good tip that she has heard from several patients before: Popsicles are really good for controlling nausea and relieving the discomfort of mouth ulcers, which will develop as a side effect of chemo.

Thank you to Uncle Don, Aunt Mary Jo, and Lomamma, who are going to visit on Christmas afternoon, which will be really nice. I will be there sometime on Thursday, and am not sure yet how long I can stay, but it well be at least a couple of days.