past week, this time to Pullman, WA to visit Washington State University. WASU is a possible contender as the institution of higher learning for our college-bound senior high school student next year. It was a relatively pleasant 5 1/2 hour drive across the state through the high desert, channeled scablands and wheat fields that make up central and eastern Washington. The campus tour and orientation were nice and the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications is impressive (complete with a picture of the esteemed Mr. Murrow in nearly every room, which I thought was just a little spooky). We also enjoyed the fresh ice cream and Cougar Gold cheese at the campus creamery. For my readers who are WASU alumni, can you please offer an explanation of the statue on campus that is shown in the picture to the right? I don't know what the heck is symbolized in the statue, but it sure is weird.I say that vacation must agree with me because after our trip back east a few weeks ago, my PET scan pictures came back looking pretty decent. My marker numbers did go up, but this past week's little vacation must have done something more, since my marker numbers dropped to an all-time low of 4.3! Dr. Gold called home on Friday morning and Nancy got the call...."Are you planning on any more vacations any time soon?" Uh, why? "4.3 - I don't want to let him out of my sight - no more vacations." Personally, I think he has it backwards - I think it was the vacations that caused the stable scans and drop in the marker numbers. If I can just get him to write up my next prescription for "Take vacation as needed"... It may also have something to do with the incredibly uncomfortable and nasty looking rash from the Erbitux this time too. My face and throat were kind of a horror show, but I have to keep the following question in mind: "Which is worse - bad zits or tumors?". It's kind of a no-brainer, but a little hard to focus on it when you scare yourself every time you see yourself in the mirror. To my friends who are just starting with the Erbitux - sure it's ugly and uncomfortable, but remember the goal at the end. Maybe we should get t-shirts printed up that say "I'm Erbitux Ugly - what's your excuse?" (sorry - that's the mean-spirited part of cancer that slips out from time to time). Maybe the folks at Imclone Systems (the makers of Erbitux) will give us the shirts as a product promotion with our next dose...
Taken through the windshield in Eastern Washington - painted on the side of the barn:
"Go Cougs"!
