Journal Judg3's Journal: Chemo - The second round 3
Well, round 2 went much better then round one. On Thursday, I took my Rituximab antibody treatment, then on Friday I had the actual chemo, some Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, Vincristine and my new friend Prednisone. The reason I'm here writing at 7:49 am after only an hour and a half of sleep is due to the Prednisone.
It's a powerful adrenal stimulant, aka steroid, and as such keeps me up and awake. Sure, it suppresses my immune system and all, but it's helping me fight my cancer.
Which, I might add, I'm fighting very well. In fact the doctor took xrays in on Thursday and came into the exam room. He told me and the girlfriend, and I quote this here "I have crappy news - just kidding! Come here!" - this old man who looks like he should be deliverying babies somewhere was so giddy as he lead us into the office.
First he showed us the front view of the xrays, with a big smile on his face, then the side view.
Imagine our suprise when we saw that after a single treatment the cancer has shrunk by almost 30%! 30%!!! Thats huge! It went from the size of a dinner plate to the size of a desert plate in the time of a week.
He didn't change the timeline, but I don't think I'll receive the full 6 months of chemo, maybe closer to 3-4. Then it's 4-6 weeks of DAILY radiation treatments to wipe out the cancer cells hiding behind the scar tissue and boom - it's gone.
Well, that's not really true - after it's been in remission for 5 years THEN it's over.
Oh well, I'm happy - feeling crappy about the fact I have insomnia today, but it beats the chronic fatigue I feel other wise.
Till next time!
Wow! Someone's responsive! (Score:2)
Hang in there.
Sweet deal :-) (Score:1)
About the radiation, they're going to shape the radiation to concentrate in the tumor area, and leave the rest of your body mostly alone. Man, I'm happy that medical science is moving forward.
Re:Sweet deal :-) (Score:2)
And yeah, the doctor told me the radiation would be so tightly targeted, but I still have to worry - it will probably hit my heart and lungs some. While that isn't a real concern for alarm, the fact that it raises the possibility for me to get lung cancer, heart disease/cancer, melanoma, and a few other things is.
Oh well, better to have a higher risk for future ailments then to die from this one, ya know?