Really fascinating story over the weekend in the NY Times, everyone’s favorite science journal, about a gentleman who presented to the ER with acute severe memory loss and insomnia. The physical exam and an LP were normal, and there was no evidence of epilepsy or autoimmune disease (lupus was on the differential—always is).

The very astute neurologist somehow recognized it as a cancer-related illness, and he turned out to have a mediastinal mass from Hodgkin’s lymphoma that had begun to cause inflammation in his brain. All I can say is: Wow.

I would not have put that on the differential in a million years, but then again, I’m not a neurologist, or a clinician of any sort, or a smart man.

Okay. I’m sorry to have to do this, but now that I’m getting over 100 spam comments and pings from spam weblogs every day, I’ve decided to turn on comment moderation, which means that your comments won’t appear immediately but only after I’ve manually approved them. Given that only a few of you regularly comment (those that come to mind are PetersDigest and—well, only her, really), it shouldn’t be a huge deal, but just letting the masses know.

Also, more of you should comment, and by you I mean if you’re a human with a brain and/or a weblog of your own, as opposed to a commenting, spamming robot. I like comments.

1. Eloping really should be a serious consideration for any newly engaged couple. I am not kidding. My life would easily be 9.8 times easier right now if Abbie and I were planning an elopement trip instead of pulling our hair out just to be able to get married within walking distance of our home.

2. Continuing on that theme: Holy hell, it is expensive to get married. Expectedly, it is even holy-hell expensiver to get married in a big city. Why? Because people charge you whatever they can get away with, and judging from the limited availabilities of some of these places more than a year from now, they are most certainly getting away with it.

3. I like buildings with glass ceilings a whole lot. Consider the two places that were at the top of our list for the ceremony and reception, respectively: the light court of the Rookery, a classic Chicago building designed by Daniel Burham and John Root (and later renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright) and one of the oldest Chicago “high-rise” buildings (and, at the time of its completion, the tallest building in the world, making it one of the first “sky-scrapers”); and the Winter Garden of the Harold Washington Library, the world’s largest public library and a bold statement of Chicago architecture that has long been one of my faves in the city. The pictures below are of the aforementioned spaces with the Rookery on the left and the Libary on the right.

4. Buildings with glass ceilings are often prohibitively expensive venues for wedding ceremonies and receptions. Often, I irrationally pursued them in full knowledge of this but with the hopes that someone would have cut us a deal, you know, just because we asked them to. Apparently “ask and ye shall receive” doesn’t work all of the time.

Luckily, we’ve been fortunate to book both a venue—yet another space with a glass ceiling, this one with a three-story, glass-encased atrium, right across the street from the Sears Tower, complete with tables, chairs, linens, and catering—and a photographer, both of which we’re both in love with.

It should be a good time. Sorry ladies, as of November 15, 2008, I will be a married man, provided I don’t kill myself during the other 93% of the planning.

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition, during this Lung Cancer Awareness Month, has released its goals for improving lung cancer survival rates in that part of Europe, where it currently stands at an absolutely pathetic 8.4% over five years. This is certainly commendable, and they have pledged to double the one-year survival rate by 2010 and the five-year survival rate by 2015. Lofty goals, but a huge breakthrough should they achieve them. Still, with those increases, they’d only be barely on par with US survival rates. Now if only we could see something similar in the US…

It’s not entirely clear why lung cancer survival rates are so different in different parts of the world, or even from country to country—it may be genetics, or it may be that standards of treatment are different, or it may be that differences in lifestyles confer more aggressive forms of cancers in certain parts of the world. It may be a combination of these. The US stands at around 15% for five-year survival rate, a figure that has not appreciably increased since the 1970s, while Malta, according to the UKLCC, boasts a five-year survival rate of 4.8%.

If you live in Malta and you smoke, you might want to stop now. Also, if you live anywhere and you smoke, you might want to stop now, unless of course you’re feeling really lucky.

This year has been a year of many vacations. Probably too many for my own good. The South of Spain, Boston, Palm Beach, Minneapolis, and, soon, Park City for some skiing. This is not to mention several days off during a bout with hepatitis, which doesn’t necessarily involve vacating oneself, but it was a break from classes and the lab nonetheless. Unlike some people, these things tend not to include a whole lot of work on my part.

I should probably not go anywhere else for a long time. Unless it’s to somewhere exotic. Like for a honeymoon. Or a conference.

Sunday, the end of daylight saving time, was my favorite day of the year. It’s all downhill from here, save for slight blips at Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. (I’m not exactly sure when things get back up the hill, but it’s a saying for chrissake. Get off my back.)

I can’t tell you why the end of daylight saving time is my favorite day of the year in exact terms. Part of it is that I’m largely unable to be productive when it’s light out, instead preferring to do most reading and studying and writing in the wee hours o’ the morn’. Alas, having more darkness per day makes me feel like working that much harder.

Part of it is that I absolutely love the fall. I love crisp weather, I love crisp leaves on the ground, and I love the scenery of a good college campus with its hustle and bustle and the feeling that I’m part of a larger focused goal that is the pursuit of knowledge (and, especially here, nothing else). For some reason, the end of daylight saving signifies the kickoff of true fall for me.

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I was never a huge fan of video games, but I, like any other kid, played my fair share of the standards.

Much cooler than the a cappella version, which is more annoying and hurty than cool.

Another of my contributions to the medical student group weblog, The Differential, has been posted. Long white coats aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, apparently.

It’s that time of the month again: A new edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival is up on the bayblab blog. Lots o’ good links this time…check it out.

So, be aware. Lung cancer kills 28% of all Americans who unsuccessfully battle cancer, and your chance of living 5 years after being diagnosed with lung cancer is a dismal 15% (unless, of course, you happen to be a non-smoking Asian woman with EGFR-mutant-mediated adenocarcinoma, in which case your odds are slightly better). Time to get back to work.

As it happens, it’s also NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month, or the suggestion that webloggers contribute to their weblogs every day for a month) and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, or the suggestion that you—yes, you—write a 50,000-word novel, even if of questionable quality, in a month), so be aware of those as well. Also be aware that while I’ve briefly considered adhering to each, it’s just not going to happen.