Another day after the day after...

A lot better today than yesterday, although that little bit of heartburn is still with me.  Yesterday I had a lot of queasiness and general gut discomfort.

I've noticed over the last couple of days that food seems to keep me satisfied longer.  I don't know whether to attribute this to any particular drug, but I think I will have to start taking my little magnesium oxide tablets on a more regular basis to move things along.

I walked about half a block: it was nice to get out.

It seems to have been a long while since I first started these treatments on New Years Eve and it has been a mix of eerie sensations and joys.

On the one hand the treatments are a bit brutal: sudden chills which pass in a few moments; nausea, intestinal discomfort, diarrhea, constipation and sinus problems.  Not to mention the need for surgery to install a port and the many pokes involved.   The many entertaining postures I take up to get the port to actually work the way it is designed.  There is that copper color my urine takes on during and after the infusion.

Having all my hair fall out.

But my condition when I started wasn't the best: neck and head muscle spasms that would make the world's most pain cherishing masochist scream.  A bevy of drugs to control them.  Nights sweats drenching my T-shirts every night.

I had to sleep in a chair or couch half sitting up after my "in my throat" biopsy.  The inside of my throat was swollen so that I had a difficult time swallowing and I would not be able to exhale properly if I lay on my back.

I was actually dying.  Drugged so that I really didn't think that far ahead but my destination would have been an uncomfortable death.

But even during the first infusion as the Retuximab (Retuxin) was dripping into me I felt a relaxation and sense of relief in my neck and within the week I was able to sleep lying down.

After the first week or so after each infusion the discomforts began to wear off although my immune system would take a substantial hit a few days later.  I would start feeling better as I would recover from the cancer and the infusion. 

Six R-CHOP infusions and four spinal infusions with other drugs are a small discomfort compared to what my "natural" outcome would have been.

And I'm feeling pretty good.