All Saints'/ med withdrawal

Skip's been doing well-- The radiation treatments have worked to minimize the pain in his back so he's withdrawing from Oxycontin. He's been on a half-dose the past 5 days and the doc says it's safe now to stop taking it entirely. He's still doing neurontin (another narcotic), but the effects of that are pretty mild compared to the Oxycontin (which, among other things, has made it uncomfortable to drink even 1 glass of wine).

I finally finished revising an article that I worked on and worried over all summer; just got the e-mail tonight saying it has been accepted. Such a strange feeling-- exhilarated and let down all at once. My friend, Jim, says he feels something like postpartum depression every time he finishes a project-- and I guess it is a little like that. Finally finished reading Susie Bright's Big Sex, Little Death-- such a wonderful memoir, and a wonderful--if eliptical-- history of the sex and porn debates that split the feminist community. Bright grew up in San Francisco and spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz (California) at the same time I did-- knew many of the same people, so I found myself poring over the photos in the book. Seemed inconceivable that our paths didn't cross, but apparently they didn't. At least I didn't recognize the young Susie.

My friend Claire sent me the link to an article on medscape--a phase 2B study shows that a new vaccine (TG4010), used in combination with chemotherapy, slows the progression of nonsmall-cell- lung cancer in patients with profiles much like Skip's. Preliminary trials show a survival rate increase of about 6 months. So I've printed out the info and plan to ask the doc (thank you, Claire). In the meantime, I'm still trying to build up his hemoglobin and platelet counts before the next chemo treatment on Nov 9.