Friday, August 24, 2007

chemo round #4

First my appt with Dr. Zu, which went like this:
(I talked to him, he used my laptop the type to me. Kudos to Dr. Zu)


Me: Will this be my last treatment?

Dr. Zu: "NO, this is 4th, you need a PET scan,
it will show if all tumor is gone.
You need two more treatments, For a total of 6.
I think you are doing pretty well. I will schedule it for you, in about 1-2 weeks.
As for the disappearing lump, it's good that you could not feel it anymore.
The PET scan will show the status of the cancer."


Me: I want to get a port. What will this entail?

Dr. Zu: "It's an iv implanted in your chest. done by the radiologist. It's an outpatient procedure. Local anesthesia.it takes about 30-45minutes.
I will arrange this for you.
After today you have at least two more treatments.

If everything goes well,
after 6 cycles of chemo,
you will still need 4 treatments of Rituxan every six months.
For two years, 4 weekly treatments."

At first, I was very dissappointed by the 2 year thing.
But really, it makes perfect sense. I was told in the beginning that
"Lymphoma is hightly treatable, but not very cureable."
So it is my understanding, that this will be a way to maintain my health,
and keep the cancer at bay.
Plus right now I’m on 4 different drugs when I go for chemo.
In the future, I will only be on one drug, Rituxan,
I can handle that.


On to the treatment:
Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke....still nothing ;-(

The poking part isn’t so bad, but when they stick the needle in,
and then go fishing around for the ever elusive vien, ugh!
Suzanne and I actually had to go outside and take a break.
Outside in the sunshine, my viens look killer,
but then as soon as we go back in the cancer center,
they all vanish. They keep it cold in there.

Suzanne and I Thumb Wreaseled,
once back inside, and
Nurse Linda (who I'm not fond of at all)
got my vien on the first try, right where I asked her to try. yay!
Linda has redeemed herself, she can be my new favorite nurse now, lol.
It took almost 2 hours to get the I.V. hooked up.
Unbelievable!!
We didn’t get out of there till almost 6pm!
Next time will be easy, I will have a port by then.
Last night was no problems at all. No heartburn, no anything ;-)
My muscles fell like I been running laps, thats to be expected tho.

Additionally, once I have the port, and have to go for my routine
NF2 MRI's, they can stick the contrast solution in the port, rather then a vien.....cool.




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kc,moving right along,good deal!

one day at a time babe.

I had one of those chest
Iv's.
No idea how it got in,I was asleep for a brain op but out was ok,a deep breath and yank:)
It was alot better then having the damn Iv in my arm 2=3 months.

Love ya KC,Jimmy

Unknown said...

Dr. Zu really sounds like a good guy!
And I'm glad to see you still got your sense of humor.
Is this port the same thing Jimmy has? His is down there on his stomach. Take care KC and keep in touch. Jeffro

Unknown said...

I think you are doing great KC! The port sounds like a blessing! I want one too, lol, sounds funny, but I do!!!
woof!

Anonymous said...

i so wish i could make this all go away for you. it hurts me to see you so runned down.i love you to and wish life better for you GEO

Anonymous said...

KC you are a Trooper and a Fighter girl!

love you bunches!
Paula