So I had the last of my six planned chemo sessions yesterday, and here I sit as usual before dawn, pumped on steroids and unable to sleep. A week of this, then the usual crash-and-burn when I go off the steroids, then everything should be uphill from there. The plan now is to run follow-up, [...]
Archive for the ‘Lymphoma’ Category
18 Aug
R-CHOP #4: Talking To My Drugs
My fourth chemo session went down yesterday without a hitch. I’m rereading Bob Salvatore’s Dark Elf Trilogy (the core Drizzt novels). As usual, I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night due to all the steroids, but I did get some rest for a couple of hours this morning. One thing was different with [...]
28 Jul
R-CHOP #3: Half-Way Point
So, it’s chemo week again, I’m pumped with steroids again, and I didn’t get a wink of sleep Monday night again. At least I’ll be able to get some work done, as long as I can rest my eyes from time to time. My only real complaint during the last fortnight between chemo weeks has [...]
7 Jul
R-CHOP #2 – Slam Dunk
Here I am again at 4am, buzzed on steroids after managing to get about 5 hours of sleep (as much as I ever get, usually). Yesterday (Monday) I had my second round of CHOP chemo followed by the Rituxan chaser, and the whole thing was completely uneventful. I go back tomorrow to get the Neulasta [...]
4 Jul
Saving on Shampoo
So, my hair and beard started falling out on Tuesday, exactly 15 days after the start of chemo. According to the nurse practitioner, that was the longest I could expect to go without my hair falling out — and she was right. I got my wife to shave my beard down to a heavy stubble. [...]
29 Jun
It Only Hurts When I Breathe
I woke up yesterday morning with pretty bad pain from the top of my neck on the left all the way down the shoulder to the upper arm and shoulder blade. It was like the usual orthopedic twinges I get from time to time, except that my neck hurt like hell whenever I swallowed. Then [...]
26 Jun
Immune Suppression? What Immune Suppression?
I had my inter-treatment office visit with the oncologist today, and he continues to be exceedingly pleased at the way I’m responding to treatment. One thing he found remarkable was my white blood cell count (WBC) from Friday’s blood draw. It was 42.7, as compared to normal values that range up to about 10. That’s [...]
24 Jun
Dem Bonez
Now I know what “bone pain” feels like. (There’s really only one way to find out, of course). I woke up from an after-dinner nap about 7:30 this evening with intense pain in my hips, upper legs and across my chest. The pain was pulsing in time with my heart rate and I rated it [...]
20 Jun
Not All Side Effects Are Bad
So, we know that the chemo drugs work by killing fast-growing cells. Well, the condition known as psoriasis involves skin cells that are growing so fast that plaques of dead skin build up on the surface. I’ve had mild to severe psoriasis, including some fist-sized areas of plaque, for many years. Since Monday and the [...]
18 Jun
First Easy Day
After three days straight of infusions, today is easy. I went in for my Neulasta shot, which will give my neutrophils a boost. Those are the white blood cells that go after bacterial and fungal infections, and make up about 70% of all white blood cells. The drug works through the bone marrow, so they [...]
