QUICK UPDATE

Hi, All,

It's 6:15 Tuesday evening as I come to you live from MDA's ICU. *faint applause, as at a golf tourney*

As I write, I'm an hour into dose #2 of this cycle of high-dose IL-2. So far, I just generally feel like (something not good). Pretty much flu-ish. Tired, a bit achy, no energy, but thus far, no major symptoms. (w00t!) The Dr. I saw this morning is Dr. Hwu...but this one's female & isn't related to the Dr. Hwu I saw last time. Of course, Jessie the *excellent* nurse practitioner is back, which is comforting. (Aside: I found out today that she loves to catch and eat Spanish mackeral...James & I caught some just last Friday. Comparing fishing lures & tactics with an incredibly-skilled & specialized female nurse practitioner in an ICU room just prior to dose 1 of high-dose IL-2 = utterly priceless! Very cool grace note for me...)

Dose 3 should come on board around 1:00 in the morning, assuming the side effects stay somewhat under control.

Thanks so much for the prayers!! We're living on them. Please keep 'em coming these next few days. And of course, the macro request is that this stuff would work and kick this melanoma in the teeth and make it go away...

In related news, I only watched a bit of my favorite part of Shark Week last night. I refer, of course, to "The Flying Sharks of South Africa." Way cool stuff, but I decided I didn't need any Great White Shark-related nightmares & went over to sportscenter instead...I'm hacked to discover that the Shark Week shows aren't being rerun all thru the day. Lisa is...not hacked at this discovery. *smile* Last time, I subjected her to about 4 straight hours of Deadliest Catch; she's a good woman...

OK, gotta run get ready for my spaghetti & meatballs that should arrive any minute.

Thanks again for the prayers. And thanks for the emails that made us laugh and cry. Very encouraging stuff! To email here, see 2 posts ago. *points down*

Love and hope,
Mike

p.s. - specifically, hoping for some symptom-free sleep tonight...and of course the big hope of healing...

p.p.s. - want to see how broad one man's influence is? Read Leslie Gonce's incredible comment to the previous post. Chill-bump material for me on my Dad's influence (thru a simple business card!) long after his passing.