Today

A little later this morning, Jen and I will head into Mass General to visit with my neurologist, Doc Plotkin. He'll give me the results of my recent MRIs. Have any of my monster and/or mini meningiomas grown at all since I've started chemo? If so, where do we go from here? If not, where do we go from here?

I've had a year and a couple months off from my awesome neurosurgeon's shiny knives. Has radiation and chemo bought me another year? Goddamn, I hope so!

Hey, did you know that you can purchase scalpels online? I wonder if this is where Dexter buys the tools of his after hours trade. Also, you can find them on Etsy. I've always thought Etsy was a site where artists and craftsmen flog their wares. Are these blades artisan forged?

I think I'd like to ask my beloved neurosurgeons, Barker (brain guy) and Coumans (spine dude), where they get their cutters. Are any of them gifts or hand me downs from family members who had also been medics? That'd be so special. Do Fred and Jean Valery have favorite scalpel makers? Do any of the knife handles sport ornamentation—like some lovely art nouveau  waves and curls?

 Okay, I'd like to ask them but I don't want to need to see them.