Okay I couldn’t write much yesterday because I had a lot of people to talk to and to tell my story to.
Just to recap (all the highlighted words have links for more information):
My appointment yesterday went very well. I took Max with me and honestly I am glad I did as I didn’t leave there till 3:30 (and I thought my appointment was only going to last till 2).
They basically told me that it doesn’t matter which of the 2 types of cancer I have. They actually can co-exist in the same lymph node. So now they are focusing on treatment. She did say that I am in stage 2 with an international grade (I may be saying that wrong it is international something or other) of 0. So that is good.
So I will be starting Chemo on Monday. I will be taking R-CHOP (Rituxan, Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone). I will also getting a Port-cath put in me on Monday. This will allow easier access for getting blood and receiving treatment. I will probably keep this in me for quite some time. I can keep it in me for years. It will be placed below my clavical bone on my upper chest and it will be able to be seen should I have this area exposed. My veins stink and with all the treatment I am going to have to go through in the future (cancer not included) and how my veins just stink, it might be good for me to just hang onto it. At least when I need an IV I wouldn’t need to get a scar. Right now I have several scars on my hands from the IV’s from the triplets and Max.
I will be getting 6 rounds of chemo. They will occur every 3 weeks. I will be getting a PET scan after my 4th round and they anticipate that at that time I will be in remission. So that is good. With every round I have been told that I could be nauseas for around 72 hours. So they gave me prescriptions for that (Zofran, Prochlorperazine Maleate, and Ativan). Not sure why the Ativan as it says nothing about it being for nausea but I could see how some might be anxious during this time. I will also be taking the Prednisone for 4 days following each treatment.
She did say that there is a chance that my white blood cell count could drop dangerously low in this process. If that happens I will need to be admitted into the hospital. However hopefully that will not happen.
I am going to be having a very busy couple of days now, as you can imagine. I have to make sure that insurance is getting everything they need to cover all said procedures and medication (chemo requires pre-authorization for some strange reason… who would want to have it that didn’t have cancer?). I also have to get my house in order since I will likely be sick till Christmas eve. Ha ha! Today I am also going to get my hair cut. This will likely be hard for me but it has to be done. And I want Max to see me happy in my short hair and not just ill. So while I probably can wait to cut it I am going to cut it today more for him then anything. I will post before and after photos today if I get a chance.
Oh and I forgot one of the best parts… at least for me. This doctor told me I only need to wait 1 year to go back to have another child. Not 2 years like I had previously been told. Honestly after we lost Emily I was held up for a year because of testing and a miscarriage (I actually started stimulation drugs for Max’s cycle on the anniversary of Emily’s death, January 5). So that isn’t that bad! If that isn’t good enough there is a chance that all of my eggs may not be destroyed in this process to. So in the off chance that not all of my 5 embryos make it, there is a chance that I can still get pregnant with my eggs.
Tomorrow Max has a pediatrician appointment and I have to get my EKG. One of the medications in the Chemo can mess with the heart and so they need the baseline EKG just for that purpose.
On Monday I hope to update the blog via my cell phone. I am not sure how in and out of it I will be with all that is going on, however I do know that I will have lots of down time since the chemo itself can take 3 hours to administer. So when I can, I will be updating the blog even if I can’t talk anyone via the phone.
Thank you for all the prayers and I hope that this is just another speed bump in my road of parenthood.
Jennifer
PS. Please let me know if you have any questions. Odds are someone else has the same question and I will try my best to answer it or if need be ask my doctor.
Atavian is used for naseau.
My husband is going through radiation and chemo right now and that is one of the things they prescribe. It also makes you sleepy.
Keeping you in my prayers.
Judy Caton
Sorry you are going through all of this. Your attitude seems positive and that will go a long way in getting rid of “Larry.”
Praying for you and your family.
Sending you good vibes! I’m a non-hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor (6 years and counting!) and have been through the exact chemo you’re doing (except for the rituxan – it was a clinical trial here in Canada when I went through treatment). I actually found the anti-nausea meds were AMAZING – zofran does wonders! I was never sick – but I did feel a little rough the evening after I had chemo. I had my chemo on Friday, and was pretty good by Monday (I was always back to work that day) – now I will say that as I progressed through the chemo, each one did get a little tougher (that’s to be expected) so it was harder to bounce back for sure. And I had a hard time with my wbc, and did have to miss a chemo session because it was too low. But they have wbc boosting drugs too, so it can definitely be managed.
One last thing – be prepared for your hair to fall out. Mine started almost exactly 14days after my first chemo – and then I shaved it all off. I did buy a wig but mostly went bald (I did chemo in the summer) or wore a scarf around my head. The good news about no hair is that it cuts down on the getting ready time in the morning! : )
I hope you don’t mind that I posted so much info – just wanted to tell you from someone who has gone through it that it can be done. All the best.