Everything is fine. I show up at the hospital each morning for blood tests and a couple of hours of hydration. Then I spend the rest of the day in our hotel room watching The Wire—which I can finally do because my cable company recently offered to cut my bill $12 per month if I added HBO. They swear there are no tricks here. It was just a matter of updating me to more modern billing codes.
I also have to take a Donald Trump style neurological test every day:
What's that?
A clock.
And that?
A pen.
And that?
A microdosing non-spheroidal oncological cosmometer that goes beep.
And that's my day. So far, no fevers and no mental fuzziness. And I successfully whined my way into starting at 9 am instead of the godawful 7 am starts we began with.
Hopefully it will stay that way.
I can see the headlines:
Locally world-famous blogger demands exception to hospital protocols.
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Now that you've got HBO, the Harley Quinn animated series is fantastic!
Also, Doom Patrol.
And the Righteous Gemstones.
Throw in Barry and Vice Principals
Glad to hear! We're all out here pulling for you, even if most of us only write when we have something to disagree with.
Could not agree more. Go Kevin!
👍
Taking your stay as a kind of vacation is a great idea! Now that you've got HBO (or Max, or whatever it is this week), you might also check out Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us ...
Good luck. May your vessels not leak.
Hope things stay smooth, KD!
Thanks for keeping us updated, Kevin. We're all pulling for you in thoughts and prayers. It's really nice to be getting updates.
You still have cable?
Yeah, I can get it on my tablet. Supposedly I can even Chromecast it to the TV in the room, but the hotel's WiFi is so crappy it doesn't work.
Sounds good! Hang in there.
The Wire's fascinating to me because I can't think of another series that delved into a social problem (urban decay) as deeply and directly as it does. Many shows touch on socials problems of one kind or another, but it's not as central. The Wire really says, "Let's look at what's going on in our cities and why." I think it avoids being preachy or offering up simplistic solutions, it just gives you a good long look at some of the elements involved and how they interrelate.
And that it did it with great acting and writing and storytelling made it something special. Seasons 3 and 4 are really something. Season 2 doesn't quite tackle unions and blue collar workers as well as it wants to. Season 5 is (as everyone admits) a mess, I think partly because Simon is too close to the news business and has too many personal axes to grind, and because I don't think the decline of local news is quite as important a factor in this story as Simon thinks it is (although it's certainly not a good thing.)
A series set in the 60s and 70s that shows the effects of white flight and redlining and union busting would be really cool.
Season 5 is (as everyone admits) a mess,
I think it's far from a mess, personally. My main issue with the last season was that it was too short. This often happens with prestige TV. They get to the point where they need to wrap up the show, and they find they haven't quite left themselves enough runway to properly stick the landing. Soprano's and Game of Thrones both suffered from this effect, too. Breaking Bad avoided it. Mad Men (mostly) as well.
Season 2 -- skip skip skip.
But I agree with Jasper re: too short.
This is just about as "Kevin Drum" a blog post as one could hope for.
I'm so excited for you. I had an aunt with Multiple Myeloma, and I don't think these treatments were available when she had it.
It really brings me joy to follow your hopeful progress
👍
Whining is good for the soul; it's the trickle charge that prevents rage.
In my thoughts, Mr Drum. Good luck!
…“successfully whined my way into starting at 9 am instead of the godawful 7 am starts”…
Are all early-risers fascists? (Just asking questions!)
Yes. Yes, they are.
Um, the neurological test questions have the following answers:
person, woman, man, camera, TV
Commit them to memory and answer all questions with those, and only those words. You'll be released from the hospital toot sweet.
In other words, the 5 things you see immediately when you're being interviewed by a TV journalist.
You still pay for cable? My god, man! Do you also pay someone to deliver ice to your house?
Even apart from the lower cost of whatever bundle you choose (NFLX + HBO + DISNEY, or whatever) your bundle, unlike cable, will give you an HDR 4K image (noticably better) and likewise for audio; and with so much better UI!
You still have cable? I ditched that, subscribed to pretty much every streaming service there is, and still saved a boatload of money. Plus, I can carry my iPad and watch everything from everywhere all at once.
I don't know what the deal is with doctors. They all want to start at the crack of dawn, if not the ass crack.
Forbes Science had an article today about CAR T treatment. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2023/04/27/car-t-therapy-dramatically-reduces-risk-of-relapse-for-multiple-myeloma/)
The headline is a bit deceiving. It says, “CAR T Therapy Dramatically Reduces Risk Of Relapse For Multiple Myeloma.” While true, and the article does mention those benefits, it mostly discusses how J&J and Legend Biotech are studying the effects of providing treatment to patients earlier than currently approved. As I’m sure Kevin knows, to qualify currently you have to have tried at least five other treatment regimens before you’re eligible. But these new studies are investigating using CAR T after either one or three such treatments. Here’s hoping these are successful so more people can get such an effective treatment earlier. “No evil dex!”
Also, Kevin, can I request an article on why the FDA doesn’t allow CAR T until after five other treatments? Are the risks or side effects that bad? Or, is it just that it’s new and they want people to try more established protocols earlier? Or, is it just too damn expensive. Maybe the article covers that: “The CAR T therapy and control safety profiles seem comparable, with 97% and 94% of patients (respectively) reporting serious adverse events.” Holy jeebus, Batman! That’s a lot of serious adverse events!
Regardless, best of luck Kevin! I want to many, many more charts (and cat photos) out of you!