After a couple days delay for an extra round of insurance paperwork, we got 
our hands on the Gleevec. I can't say I blame the insurance company (Harvard 
Pilgrim) for this. It turns out that a month's worth of Gleevec costs $2500, 
so they wanted Dr. Lange to verify that this was the only way to get the job 
done. He did, and they came through -- all we had to cover was a $35 
copayment. (This has me thinking about the 40 million Americans without 
health insurance, who probably can't come up with $2500 a month for a 
life-saving drug either. I wonder what they do.)

Deb still hasn't started taking the drug, though, because she caught a bad 
cold this week. We both did. I got sick about two days before Deb, and my 
fever broke Saturday night, so we're expecting hers to break any minute now. 
Two of the possible (but unlikely) side effects of Gleevec are fever and sore 
throat, so the doctors would like Deb not to have a fever or sore throat when 
she starts the drug. Nobody seems all that worried about waiting a few more 
days.

We've been in regular contact with Deb's doctors, who believe (as we do) that 
the fever, congestion, sore throat, and cough are all part of this cold, and 
are not related either to the cancer or to surgery.

Deb's spirits held up very well through the early stages of the cold, but now 
she's in the coughing phase, which is painful and tiring even for people who 
aren't trying to heal a 12-inch abdominal incision. But it's a cold; all we 
can do is wait.