Both of Us .org

Greetings this Saturday morning,
At 9:oo AM in Minneapolis, the sun is shining but it is only 22 degrees outside. The snow melted to a large extent this week. We had 40 degree weather and bit of rain. It will be many weeks until the grass starts to green and flowers start to pop out of the ground.

Thankfully I do not have to wait that long. The tulips and crocus that I planted indoors just over a month ago have begun to bloom. Crocus are fast burners. There have been two white flowers and one purple flower, but sadly they open and within about two days they dry up and wither away. I hope to see a few more blooms before they are completely finished.

Tulips have more stamina. The blooms take a bit longer to develop and after a half a week being open, are still beautiful. Two purple and many red tulips bloom today.

Last week I had lasik eye corrective procedure done on my left eye. At this moment it has been four days since the procedure. I have to say that for the 5-10 minutes that it takes to do one eye, it was uncomfortable. Not miserable pain, but certainly uncomfortable. They take the eye and apply some suction to lift the contour of the eye. This feels...icky! Then a bit more manipulation and the eye flap is created. This is basically lifting up the lens to allow for the laser to do its thing. Then they turn on the laser, with its click click click noise. I could smell the burning of tissue. They put back down the flap and with some tiny brush like tool make sure it is in place on my eye. Then we were done; it was less than ten minutes.

I am required to put drops in my eye to help it heal for two weeks and also lubricating drops every hour. I see perfectly out of my left eye now and I will not have to wear glasses, which is pretty cool.

This morning, many of you are hearing the news that JayBee will be going into the hospital on Monday morning to start Interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment. Cannot sugar coat this one, by all accounts it is going to be rough. Dr. A. suggests that JayBee's immune system is already working, as evident by the biopsy of lymph nodes that were recently removed (they were full of lymphocytes and necrotic melanoma cells). As hard as his immune system is working, it is unable to keep up with some of the cancer, thus the IL-2 is going to give his lymphocytes a super boost to enable them to work overtime.

JayBee links to IL-2 in the previous post. I also am familiar with this cytokine, since I work for a company that actually makes IL-2. The company I work for is in the business of making cytokines, which are growth factors in the body that tell cells what to do and when to do it. Our version of IL-2 is research grade and not meant for treating humans. I personally have not been involved with the purification of IL-2 at work. It is heartening to know that I am working with a company makes products that might be helping scientists develop treatments for the cancer my beloved parter is currently fighting.

Labels: cold weather, garden, Melanoma

 Miss Melanoma wrote:
I am keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers and I know that this IL2 is going to eradicate those last melanoma cells! Keep fighting hard and I'll keep sending all my positive vibes your way!

Keep us posted!

-MMq

 Cosmic Monkey wrote:
Thinking of you today, and I agree with MM that this IL2 will jumpstart your immune system and kick those cancer cell's asses! I have certainty that your body will continue to be strong and heal itself. You are a strong person, and we'll be visiting tomorrow after work. If it starts to suck too much, remember that it is "not always so"! Everything is changing constantly, such is the nature of life. Much love, and keep posting!