Arlen Inspiration

Arlen Specter is a moderate Republican US Senator. Yes, there is still such a thing. He's from Philly, so that should tell you that he's also a pretty cranky guy. Philly fans once booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus. They hate everyone. Specter's known as a bit of character for his Philly irascibility (spellcheck says that's a word) but well-respected for his keen intellect. You may know him as one of the three Republican Senators who voted for the stimulus package. I know him as this dude who keeps getting Hodgkin's. A couple of years ago, he was diagnosed with Stage IV, just about the worse you can get. He went through chemo and thought he got rid of it. But sometime last year, it came back. He's not getting a stem cell transplant, probably because he's too up there in years. Instead, he just keeps getting more and more treatments of chemo. Even though he's resigned to having cancer, it doesn't look like it's slowing him down at all. He's planning on running for Congress again, much to the chagrin of Sean Hannity. 

As for me, I started the first half of the second of three planned treatments of GND. I know. It's confusing. I'm supposed to get three pairs of treatments, one week apart. I'm in the middle of two. I get buzzed again on Good Friday to complete two. Jesus gets nailed to a cross on Good Friday. I get chemo. Not sure which is preferred.

Next week, tests start again to see if the cancer's gone. I can save everyone the time and doctor's bills by saying that it's not. It most likely is looking like my three planned treatments of GND will be at least four if not more. My lumps have gone down but my doctor wants complete remission. I say an amen to this insistence since complete remission is the best measure of success in stem cell transplants. All the other things I got going against me is cancelled out if I can get to complete remission. But that means another month here in Houston in the very least. Should have gotten Astro season tix. 

I looked for a picture of Arlen when he was bald and met GW in the oval office. Very awkward. The Prez didn't want to shake his hand. But I couldn't find it. So I got a picture of Sean Hannity.