CLUB CHEMO

CHEMO I:

It is a bit tough to remember exactly how it felt to go to club chemo the first time since I am writing this as I have crossed the halfway point. I do remember being pretty nervous but happy to finally be taking some action. There is a big room that the folks who have just an hour or so sit and then there are private rooms for folks who have all day, new patients and people with reactions. So far I have been in a private room. It has a TV with a DVD and VCR, but CNBC seems to keep me entertained when I'm awake. It seems like there would be a lot of time to do things such as blog ;) but it is actually pretty busy. The nurses constantly change the IV and checking for reactions.

The plan was R-CHOP for 6 hours every three weeks for a total of six times. I react to the rituxan so they had to slow it down. Essentially, it was a burning in my eyes and some sinus irritation. This turned my chemo from a 6 hour day to a two day treatment for chemo I and then II and III went 8 hours in one day.

When I got home, I felt pretty good the first day (just the Rituxan). I did have severe nausea and needed to figure out how to use my prescriptions. Once I called the pharmacist and took my medication properly, I felt much better.

Otherwise, I had a few of the usual expected side effects. The continuing effects are nausea, fatigue, numb fingertips and some of the original symptoms I had at diagnosis.

With Chemo I, I had the Nulasta shot which kept my blood counts up. I did have some severe pain in my back that may have been a side effect of the shot.

CHEMO II:

I was pretty confident with chemo II. I felt like there was a chance it would be cumulative and that it might be scary like I originally expected, but was hopeful that it would be similar to chemo I. It was not too bad. We managed to knock it out in 8 hours. In addition to my usual side effects, I had a few days of feeling very faint and my blood counts dropped significantly. I did not have the Nulasta shot for chemo II nor did I have the back pain. Overall, it was pretty uneventful.

CHEMO III: HALFWAY!!!

I went into chemo III feeling nauseous from the start. I slept a lot of the day and so it was pretty boring for my cabana boy, Stephen. I managed to knock it out in one day again, but it wiped me out. I could barely move when I got home and went straight to bed after a bowl of soup. Nausea has been much worse this time. I guess I'm finally getting the cumulative effects. I did not get the Nulasta shot this time either....so far, not a problem. I feel much better today which is the Tuesday after my treatment on Thursday.