Holly GoLightly

i have officially moved into my parent's house in the countryside of PA. on the drive up, with one cat crying incessantly and another trying to sit on the dashboard, i contemplated my next life. i could entirely reinvent myself (hence the title of this posting in a audrey hepburn style.) know one knows me here- no high school buddies, no college roommates, no coworkers, no neighbors. sounds a bit lonely when i put it that way doesn't it? i haven't had any interaction with the locals- sometimes i feel like i'm at a sanatorium, like they did in the "old days" when family members became sick with diseases.

i decided to start this blog for a multitude of reasons. there's the obvious, it gives all my friends and family a way to see what i'm up to without writing repetitious emails into the early morning hours. (sort of a cop out) i can give the standard health update so no one feels awkward about asking and receiving the same answer day in and day out. but it also is a way for me to work on my "secret project" and no i'm not sharing it with you. i share enough with you people, give me one bit of privacy here! (says the girl that is writing a blog) so i'll give a quick update on the first 2 weeks of my "temporary" living arrangements (mom points this out constantly- i don't know if she's trying to make me feel better about the less than stellar circumstances or if she's trying to oust me before i become one of those 36 year olds living in their mom's partially unfurnished basements.

"the move" : i had a not so nice run in with my slightly batty landlord. emotions are a bit heightened, which i'm using as the excuse for the snarky email exchange i got into with her over sections 28a-f of the lease. dad's brilliant idea of driving the Hertz moving van through the backyard to the basement doors went fabulously- until it got stuck in the snow. i am starting to think he had this planned all along so he could try to do wheelies with a bright yellow truck but supposedly he had "planned" this- the tow truck receptionist said "oh you're the guy that called last week to ask if we could haul out moving vans." (photo evidence above) my brother's highly anticipated animal experiment (where we introduce my 2 adorable fat cats to my parents' crotchety old cats and golden retriever) is still ongoing. my paranoia over my babies has led me to believe they will be scarred for life by this interaction. therefore, i keep them in my room at all times except to allow them the run of the top floor (this is enough to awe and amaze them since they're used to living in a shoebox with no view.)

the Tysabri Factor : apparently no one in PA has MS. i say this because we have not found a doctor within a 50 mile radius that prescribes Tysabri. (actually, that's a lie- 2 do, but they do not have an infusion center b/c of a turf war with the oncology department so they send their patients an hour and a half away to another infusion center) In fact, Geisinger Medical Center, which is a huge and widely respected hospital comparable in reputation and talent to the Mayo Clinic, has an MS Clinic, and is only 30 minutes away. However, they do not have a neurologist in the clinic that specializes in MS (I know, I was just as confused as you are now.) MS Clinic, but no MS neurologist. Hmmm. In addition, all of the doctors in the clinic are enrolled with the TOUCH Program (requirement of Tysabri- it's the manufacturer enrollment and monitored program) and trained in providing the medication, but their own infusion center refuses to give them any beds b/c of the priority of the oncology patients. Cancer is a horrible disease, but so is MS, and we both deserve equal access to medical treatment. Currently I am going to DC and doing the 6 hr round trip trek to get the infusions at Georgetown. Thanks to Lori and her Marriott hookup, we can spend the night affordably and make it to the 7am appts. The drug takes 4-6 months to have an effect on the MS symptoms, and that is IF it has an effect at all. We're putting all our eggs in this basket and have a good feeling about the outcome.