The only odd thing was explaining to the kids why their friend was staying with us during a school week. Marilyn would run him down to school in Cockeysville after loading the kids on the school bus. Otherwise, we had the phone ringing off the hook as girls started calling the house for him. Bucky had figured out that girls weren't all that gross and yucky! Charlie thought his older friend was crazy in this regard, and Bucky just laughed at him.
The twins were eight, like Carter, and they were pretty curious why Bucky was staying here when Carter wasn't. They kept picking at us, first me, then their mother, then me again, and finally Marilyn chewed their butts and told them to behave and go to their room. They grumped and whined and I stood up and then they took off with considerable alacrity! It pays to be big! I gave Marilyn a wry smile and we went back to what we had been doing.
The Tusks flew back with Carter Sunday morning, and I could tell by the looks on their faces as they came by to retrieve Bucky that the second opinion was the same as the first. We turned Carter loose upon the other kids, and sat Tessa and Tusker down in the kitchen.
"So, what is it?", I asked.
"Acute lymphocytic leukemia.", answered Tusker. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pamphlet. "Here, I knew you'd ask, so I picked this up. Thanks for flying us out there. I'll pay you back somehow..."
I waved it off. "The hell you will. Forget it! What's this acute ... whatever? Leukemia? That's a blood cancer of some sort, right?"
Tusker looked at Tessa, who answered, "It's a fairly common childhood cancer, but not normally seen in adults. Your white blood cells go haywire and go into overproduction, but aren't like normal white blood cells. For what it's worth, they say we caught it relatively early, so that's good. It's the same diagnosis we got at Johns Hopkins. They suggested we continue to have him treated here."
"Well, that's good, isn't it? You're only half an hour from one of the best hospitals in the country, maybe even the world! There's a cure, right?", asked Marilyn.
I didn't know shit about cancer and leukemia, but I did know that childhood leukemia was one of the most treatable cancers. By the time I recycled, it was practically guaranteed curable, at least if you could afford to go to the hospital. Most Americans didn't have health insurance after about 2020.
Our friends nodded. And grimaced. "The treatment is chemotherapy. There's nothing to operate on surgically. That and maybe radiation."
"That sucks, but at the end, he'll be cured. They do all sorts of stuff with cancer these days.", I told them. "Listen, let me make a few calls this week. See if I can find any experts in Washington. Don't delay anything, but let me look into it."
At that offer, Tusker and Tessa looked at each other and smiled. Tessa said, "Why do you think we brought you that pamphlet? We knew you'd want it spelled out for you when you started poking around."
"You two are real funny! Am I that predictable?"
The other three all looked at each other and said, damn near in unison, "Yes!" I just rolled my eyes. The Tusks left us with the pamphlet and packed up their kids and went home.
That night I made sure to hug each of my children before they went to bed. The girls didn't think about it, but Charlie thought it was pretty strange. I told him to tough it out, or I'd kiss him, too. He ran shrieking at the thought, which made Marilyn and me laugh.
Monday morning, after my morning staff meeting, I had Babs and Mindy stick around. "A friend of mine has a child with leukemia. Who do I see about finding him the best doctor in the country?"
The two women looked at each other. Mindy looked a little mystified, but Babs immediately answered, "You need to see somebody over at the National Institutes of Health. They'll know somebody."
"Is this one of your children, sir?", asked Mindy.
I shook my head. "No, but he might as well be. It's my best friend's youngest."
"I can make a few calls, set something up.", said Babs.
"Make it happen fast. I need to know this week.", I pressed. They nodded and left. I called Marty in and we started discussing other stuff.
Wednesday morning I drove out to Bethesda, where I had an appointment with somebody about leukemia. The National Institutes of Health are a sprawling campus where they do research and fund medical research for the government. Babs and Mindy had made enough calls to move me up the food chain.
Bethesda wasn't far from the house on 30th, but it took my driver a bit to find a parking spot and make our way to the front door. In those pre-9/11 days you didn't get strip searched on opening the door. The young lady at the main desk took my name and called somebody, and two minutes later an earnest young man came down and retrieved me. "Welcome, Congressman Buckman. You'll be meeting with Doctor Heisman this morning.", he told me.
"Lead the way."
I was escorted inside, where we took an elevator up several floors. I was led to an office with a sign by the door, 'Jonathan Heisman, Executive Director', which my guide simply pushed open and led me into a small waiting area. I was deposited with a secretary and my guide took off. Almost immediately I was shown into an inner office, to find two men waiting for me.
"Congressman Buckman, welcome to the National Institutes of Health. I'm Jonathan Heisman, the Executive Director. Doctor Healey would have been here, but she's at a conference in San Diego this week.", said the first man, a slim and somewhat ascetic looking man with a trim beard and mustache. He reached out and we shook hands.
"That's all right. This just came up, Doctor ... I assume it's Doctor?"
He nodded. "Yes, both MD and PhD. This is Doctor Harry Hollings, my counterpart over at the National Cancer Institute, one of our sub-agencies."
I turned to the other man, a thoroughly nondescript fellow about my height and about twenty pounds heavier. He reached out to shake my hand also. "Pleased to meet you, Congressman, although not under these circumstances."
"Thank you. I agree, it's not the way I would want to meet anybody."
Heisman gestured towards an armchair. "Why don't we sit and talk about that." We made ourselves comfortable, and he opened the talk. "My understanding is that you have a friend, a constituent I believe, with a child with leukemia."
I had to smile at that. "Close, but not exactly. They aren't my constituents, but they are very close friends. Their youngest son was just diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia." I took the pamphlet, now getting worn out, out of my pocket and laid it on the desk. "They were initially diagnosed at Johns Hopkins, and then got the same diagnosis a few days later at the Mayo Clinic."
"And what brings you to us?", asked Hollings.
"I don't know. What can I do to help?, I guess."
Heisman looked at Hollings, who asked me a few questions. When did they notice the first symptoms? When did they take Carter to Johns Hopkins? When did they take him to Rochester? When were they starting treatment? I answered each as best I could.
"Congressman, I have to tell you that your friends are doing everything we tell people to do. They took the symptoms seriously, they sought out medical treatment, they went to specialists, and they got a second opinion. They are not delaying anything, and are at as good a facility as you can find."