Thank you all for your outpouring of support--kind thoughts, well wishes, and brilliant writing. I have saved all of these messages and even read a few aloud to Dan.

He just finished his first day of chemo a few minutes ago. It will go as expected: 5 days with a 2-hour drip on days 1, 3, and 5. Then 2-3 weeks in-between before they test his bone marrow again. He may need another round of chemo and/or another type of chemo after that, but we'll have to see how he responds to this first.

Since I'm a "one day at a time" kind of gal, the goal today is to make it to the Halloween edition of bingo on the recreational floor. There are prizes! So far during this 6-week stay Dan has won a Ralph Lauren bath robe, 2 Brooks Brothers ties, Tommy Hilfiger cologne, and various nick-knacks like a tie-dyed Rubik's cube and soap. I used the soap. Like he said to me, only at Sloan would you get a designer bathrobe...more later.

Susan