Disappointment in Charm City

  First of all, when and how did Baltimore get the nickname Charm City?  Linda thinks it began with a satirical comment somewhere and that the City turned into a positive marketing move.
  We went through the chemo today at Hopkins and like the last time I had a bad reaction to Taxotere, the T in GTX.  And this was in spite of taking related pills yesterday and several preliminary IV drugs to minimize the chance of any reaction.  Fortunately, the nurse was watching and as soon as I said I was starting to feel dizzy and seeing strange lights and apparently turning bright red, he ended the IV and provided antidotes so the reaction was much less extreme than last time.  But it seems clear that Taxotere will no longer be part of regimen.  All three of the GTX apparently have been found to have the ability to reduce tumors in many people so there's nothing magical about Taxotere but they like the combination. 
  By the way, I lost a 50 cent bet with Linda.  Keith, the JHH nurse practitioner who rarely communicates with us, had told me on Friday he would come by to see us for the first time today and I believe even repeated that in a later e-mail.  I said he would come by.  He was even sent a message about the Taxotere failure but he never did come over even though we were there for about three hours.  What a douche!
  Linda was checking on the web for Dr. Littman, our hopefully new oncolgist from Jefferson, and she had answered a question about a 67 year old man in good health with pancreatic cancer and spreading to the liver, like me.  She was recommending Gemsar (the G) along with some other drugs, not X or T.  So hopefully our meeting with her on August 1 will be fruitful.
  The train down and back was uneventful and on time although we did have to get a later train home due to the reaction delays.  Also, I needed a second IV because Liam, the nurse whom we like a lot, didn't want any contamination from Taxotere when he gave me Gemsar.  There was one panicky moment when after changing my bag for the 3rd time at Hopkins, we realized we were all out of bags in case I needed one more but Liam was able to get us some more, none of which I needed.  I think Amos was just showing off being at the "great" Johns Hopkins.
  On a lighter note we recalled some quotes from previous medical encounters.  When I was at Jefferson after the pan can operation, I wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink for around two days.  Finally, I was given a small cup of ice chips, after which I told Linda that that was the best meal of my life.  Later a nurse asked me if I wanted anything and I asked for "fried chicken ice chips."
  Last week when we saw the ostomy surgeons at Penn, one of them said to me that my stoma (Amos) looked really great.  I replied, "I'll bet you say that to all the guys."
    Still hanging in there and waiting for a good break although my pain has gone away and I still feel healthy, which is a lot better than many cancer/chemo patients.  But I think G and X are pretty mild in the bad reaction game.
  Best to all.\,
  Elkan - July 19