Battle is joined

This afternoon I went back to the hospital to pick up the trial drug.
First of all, I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be being treated at Beth Israel Deaconess hospital in Boston. I'm getting just superb treatment from everyone that I have met. The literature on this disease is very clear - the odds of a positive outcome, particularly from post-op problems - go up substantially at the major hospitals and with surgical team members that perform these operations and treatments regularly. More to come on this subject I'm sure.
So I've started the clinical trial with Iressa - otherwise known as Gefitinib. It's a drug that's shown to be efficatious with some other cancers in some other people and on trial at BID to see if it has an effect on the beast. It costs a fortune. On discount from Canada, a 30 day prescription would set you back $1295. In the US it's tough to get a valid cost but I've seen $3000 mentioned for a months supply.
I got home today at about 4:30 to find Kath playing in the dirt with her beloved plants. We opened the bottle of pills and she popped the first one in my mouth. Battle is truly joined for both of us.