Second Trip to the NIH

Our first trip went well, and this trip went even better, for the most part.  We checked our baggage instead of lugging it around with us from flight to flight; we figured out some simpler ways to get around Bethesda; and we made reservations for both of the July trips at a hotel that is located close to Safeway, and to one of our favorite restaurants, the Kabob Bazaar, and to several others we’re eager to try out on future trips.  I also signed the declaration of independence from CLL, aka the clinical trial consent form, and began the medication!  After only one day, there was a difference in my enlarged lymph nodes.  They were noticeably smaller, and every day since, they’ve continued to reduce in size.

The part that was less fun was the many pokes I had to endure.  But the blessing of being able to join this trial is more than worth the pokes.  By chance, however,, I discovered that I can go upstairs to the day hospital and let the registered nurses there access the port in my arm, instead of going down to the lab where blood is drawn through one of the overworked veins in my hand.  Many more tubes of blood need to be collected than usual, because this is a research study, in conjunction with treatment.  So tomorrow morning I’m emailing Susan, the research nurse, who knows how to make things happen, to request this change in my schedule.  We experienced a big blast of hot, humid summer weather, too.  I think I may be packing shorts for the next visit.