Well, almost.
So earlier I got the port in me. Specifically the Power Port (tm). I'm not kidding. They gave me this whole fancy color packet, with all of this schwag, and it's got a snazzy logo. (The schwag that is. I'm not sure if there's a logo on the port itself, although I can't say that I would be completely surprised if that were the case.) Aren't you glad your health care dollars are going towards marketing efforts on behalf of pharmaceutical companies?
I'm pretty much assuming that the MRI isn't happening today. Which isn't a big deal. Of all of the poking and prodding and scanning, it's the one that's not particularly time sensitive and can wait until after the chemo starts. And I think it's the one that's the hardest to schedule on a short notice.
The specific chemo regimen that I'm getting is known as RCHOP, where R = Rituxan, C = Cyclophosphamide, H = Doxorubicin, O = Vincristine, and P = Prednisone. Makes perfect sense, huh? And I thought CS acronyms were bad.
The basic premise of chemo is to load your body with nasty toxic chemicals that kill cells that divide rapidly, which tends to describe cancer cells. The problem is limiting the damage it does to the rest of your body, including cells that normally divide rapidly -- like hair follicles, which is why you generally lose your hair. And there are a whole host of other possible side effects. I'm not going to depress myself by trying to list them all here.
The good news is that most everyone seems to think that in the short term, it's going to make me feel substantially better. That I've got this huge tumor that's wracking the area inside my chest, and that as soon as we can make it start to get smaller, I'll start to feel better. Let's hope they're right.
So I'm not quite on the chemo drugs yet, there's first a few other pharmaceutical prereqs that have to happen first. But that's starting now, and the chemo itself will follow.
The current plan is for this all to happen every 3 weeks for about 6 months. Wish me luck.
9 comments:
Good luck!!! Woohoo for the Power Port.
Quick question - how does the port articulate with the part of your body it's attached to? Does it feel weird?
I am so glad to hear that you will start feeling substantially better very soon.
Chemo is rough. Prepare for it. Side-effects can suck.... but, it's handle-able. Find strength from all the things you love: your wife, your son, your music.
Don't try to overdo it. Don't worry about work -- they'll survive. This is plan B.
Oh, and one good thing... even though lots of food will -- all of a sudden -- taste like crap, you'll still love wings and wing sauce. At least I did. :)
Thanks for keeping us all updated, Rich. We're all rooting for you! Let us know if you have any food requests...we're happy to bring food to you.
I've been keeping up with your posts. Sending you best wishes that all this stuff will start having noticeable positive effects soon (and there is definitely good reason to believe that it will).
Want to bring food, but not sure when they need it? Click on this link to get their personalized calendar, no really, it is not a scam, I just can't figure out how to paste the URL in this comment. Terribly technologically challenged.
> Don't worry about work -- they'll survive. This is plan B.
Yup, and I should let you know I am taking your advice to heart. The day I went for my biopsy was I think right after the night that I talked to you. I was squeezed into the schedule at the last minute. Which meant that I had to show up first thing in the morning (7 AM), but I didn't actually have a set appointment and was told that I could potentially be waiting there all day. So my original plan had been to bring my laptop and get as much work done as I could while I was waiting.
Then I thought about Plan B, and said fuck it. Instead I downloaded a book (The Hunger Games) to the kindle (actually the first time I've bought an ebook -- the kindle was a gift and not something I had used much before), and spent the time with a book instead.
Not only did I not have to lug the laptop around (which is getting a bit tough given the pain in my right side), it was just so much more relaxing to do some pleasure reading.
> you'll still love wings and wing sauce.
I hope so, because I still owe you a wings night. And I plan on getting well enough to deliver on that.
Rich, I'm following your posts and wishing you luck. Sounds like you are learning a lot too---stuff you never wanted to know, but still that's something that makes even crappy experiences somehow bearable. (For me, anyway.)
By the way, I may Pad Thai last week from scratch (well, boxed noodles) and thought of you. Never would have known it could be done at home with such good results if it weren't for those Avo lounge midnight dinners.
I realize I'm a day late and a dollar short with this, but I was browsing the blog and thought I'd provoke some explanation:
H = hydroxydaunorubicin = another name for doxorubicin
O = Oncovin - brand name of vincristine
That should make a bit more sense now. Hopefully it'll never matter.
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