Three Down, One To Go

Be afraid, cancer... be VERY afraid!

Today I went in for my third of four Rituxan infusion treatments.  I'm beginning to feel like an old pro at this, as I'm a quick learner.  This time, I decided to pick up some bagels for the nurses to grease the skids.  Thankfully,  I had a delightfully warm and friendly nurse today who expressed great appreciation for the thoughtful gesture, and took good care of me throughout the day.

Once again I was in a recliner, but it was a much nicer, more private station, bright and sunny, right by the window.  Today I had the pleasure of my dad's company, who over the course of the day proved to be a worthy opponent in a heated match of "Words With Friends" (Scrabble for the iPhone).  Much to his chagrin, I beat him, fair and square... he is far too principled to take pity on the cancer patient.

Dad and me at my sunny recliner station... notice the pleasant window seat!

We began the day with the same drill of premeds: Tylenol (given orally), then steroids, and Benedryl, administered through the IV, again inserted in the top of my left hand.  This took the better part of an hour, then it was time to start the miracle juice.  Unfortunately this time I reacted immediately to the drug sensing a fuzzy, itchy feeling in the back of my throat and along the sides of my tongue.  My nurse stopped the drip right away, consulted Dr. Vempaty who recommended we take a 20 minute break or so, followed by an additional steroid drug.  This seemed to do the trick, but set us back some time.  This, in combination with having to ramp up taking slooooow baby steps once we started up with the Rituxan drip again, made for a very long day.  The rest of the day went smoothly, but it was just long--almost seven hours from start to finish.

Still, I am feeling great overall, and still pleased with the progress we have seen in the last two weeks.  The only real side effect I've been continuing to feel is some grogginess and soreness around my eyeballs, but Dr. Vempaty agrees that this is a positive sign, that something is really happening back there!  I am excited that I am almost done with treatment!  I just have one more infusion next Monday, and then we will do another MRI the following week to get an accurate measure of what this drug is truly doing for me.  I'll have a couple of more follow up appointments, and then hopefully be done with this for good--or at least a long time!

I still have my surgery to remove my ovarian cysts (most likely unrelated to cancer, but we're taking them out, just to be sure) looming, once I am through this, and scheduled for January 7.  I've decided it would be far to stressful and disruptive (for me as well as for my students and colleagues) to go back to work for just three weeks before my school's winter break, especially during one of the most stressful times of the year, and then be out again.  I think it just makes the most sense to continue my leave of absence until after I am completely healed from surgery and 100% healthy again.

In the meantime, I am getting plenty of restful time at home, and enjoying the beginning of the holiday season, spending time with family and friends, getting into the spirit.  We had a fun Halloween weekend, especially now that Ewan really understands what it is, and is having so much fun with dressing up and trick-or-treating.  Here's a pic of our adorable little pirate.

Ahoy, mateys! It's Nobeard, the pirate!