Harvey riffled the deck and looked around the table. "Okay, it looks like we're all here for tonight. Lose the chips and let's see what we're playing with."
Timmy was first; he brought out a fistful of medications in clear vials, dropping two in the center of the table. "Herceptin."
Lyle chuckled as he pulled out his meds, seperating them in two distinct piles. "We're not throwing in the pot yet. Is that all you got?"
Timmy shook his head. "I like the other stuff. This stuff ain't doing nothing for me."
"Works great for me." Bernie had his loot ready, and was sorting the hand he'd been dealt. "So far, it does," he said, with two knocks on the table.
Harvey set down the deck, and looked at his cards. Three royals and a pair of 7's; his game to lose. "I started on Herceptin six months ago, but it burned me up until they started adding Xeloda. You sure it's just Herceptin you got a problem with?"
Timmy slid two Herceptin deeper into the center. "It's a start."
The pot had grown. Now it included Rituximab, Xeloda, Gleevax, Flotaxin, even some insulin.
"I can't believe you put insulin in there," Timmy said.
Lyle shrugged his shoulders. "Larry threw that in last month."
"Where's Larry?"
"Full remission," Bernie said. "He's in New Mexico; called to tell me the food was better out there."
"Seriously?" Harvey asked.
"He's sending all his stuff next week; asked me to put it in the pot when it gets here. when you care enough to send the very best..."
"What was his regimen?" Timmy asked.
Lyle already knew: three months of Avastin, Gleevax, and a no-meat diet. He'd tried the same mix for a while, but metastesized, regardless. Maybe it was in his brain already, but he wasn't going to give up cheeseburgers anymore. It wasn't one drug or another, bean sprouts or dry heat that did it. Larry found his answer in the pot, and now Lyle wanted his turn.
Lyle wondered what his doctor was doing right now. Maybe Dr Brooks was playing golf; maybe he was doing the same thing Lyle was doing. It made just as much sense.
inspired by Discover Magazine article, "Genome-Based Cancer Treatment"
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