One of my only non-crazy, non-FAC roommates and I had a goldfish for a very short while. On Christmas Eve, while we were both out with our respective families, it jumped out of its bowl. Fish are not notoriously long-lived.

Don't name your fish after Russian writers, is my take-away.

I shall file this crucial hint.

About to let him know again that he needs to shower so I can take him to the dentist. I am not going to call for an appointment when I don't know how long it will take to move him. He hasn't showered in days. Ewwww. I pity the dentist as he acted like I was out of my mind when I suggested brushing or at least swishing. Good grief child, man up. I have to say it here since I have to be all caring mom here. He totally inherited his pain tolerance from me. Yet, his need to make sure we all share the misery is annoying.

And then you get the fish that defies all that. A friend had a one lipped, differently-finned fish that lived forever. Outlived all it's bowl-mates. I don't remember how long S had this thing, but it was a remarkable length of time.

My roommate's cat ate my beta, Solzhenitsyn.

Somehow, I think Aleksandr would approve this fate...though he would NOT approve of me using his first name...given how, well, HIM he was.

Did I mention that I have a minor in Soviet Dissident Literature? Yeah. Me and Al, we're likethis.

Mr. Wiggles, my first pet sucked up a rock while his aquarium was being cleaned and drowned himself. I would not be surprised if it was Goldfish suicide.

My father decided he wanted tropical fish...the Bataan death march of maladies including ick and cannibalism ended them all. My father's solution was to take an actual sledge hammer to the aquarium.

I'm scarred for having fish...ever.

A friend had a one lipped, differently-finned fish that lived forever.

I had to go back and reread this line...Hilarious! Somehow I imagine a 'therapy fish'...differently finned? Ha.

Well good and bad news from the dentist. The awesome news is that he won't have to have it pulled. I thought I would have to leave town if he did. He thinks he wants this done, but he really really doesn't. The antibiotic did not do anything so they gave him a better one. Of course first they tried to kill him by taking another x-ray. He is sleeping on the couch in my office now. Fortunately they only gave him Ibuprofen 800 instead of worse stuff for pain. She made it clear that she didn't want him so stoned that he couldn't tell if the new antibiotic wasn't working quickly.

Oh Laura, my sympathy to you!

They're starting the draw of Hubby's bone marrow cells today. They want to get as many as they can before the response to the growth hormones they were pumping into him wears off. Apparently growth hormones in a grown person hurt a lot. Once they've got the bone marrow, they wave mystic herbs and chant obscure spells over them, then put him in isolation for a while to start replacing them after running him through high doses of his current chemo drugs in what's called the Kill Cycle. This will kill his bone marrow, then they put the new and improved bone marrow back. And then we'll see.

Scary stuff, Connie. From what I have read it really has had good results and they are doing this more and more often. Miracle of modern science and all that. Much ~ma for success.

The doctor's are predominately positive. This is his last chance, but it's a good chance. We'll just have to see how long it can beat the cancer back and hope there are better options if/when it comes back.