And We're Off....

Hello Hello!

So we started chemo last week. This time it's a different schedule with a different combination of medications. Now we just have 3 days of chemo , 18 days of rest, wash, rinse, repeat. So overall the schedule isn't terrible.

My Doctor told me to expect more fatigue this time around and I should also expect hair loss. Sounds like I'll be back to my "Mr. Clean" look. That should probably occur by the end of this week.

So what's down the road?

Here's the game plan...
2 cycles of chemo, then a round of scans.

If the scans come back clean, then it's on to the bone marrow transplant. If not, then we do another cycle of chemo and check again.

Ok, so what's the deal with the bone marrow transplant?

When the time comes, I'll have to enter the hospital for 4-5 weeks for my transplant. For the first 7 days, my body is bombarded by some industrial strength chemo. This stuff kills everything it finds... including my body's own marrow. That is why I need the transplant. Without it my body would be unable to produce red cells, white cells, or platelets. 14 days after that the marrow should then begin producing cells and I should be on the road to recovery.

We're still unsure that this point if we're going to use my own marrow (harvest it, freeze it, then give it back) or donor marrow. After extensive testing, my marrow has come back clean (no signs of cancer) so it is a viable option. However with donor marrow there is something that occurs called graft-versus-lymphoma. That is where the donor marrow sees the lymphoma in the body as foreign and fights it just as it would any other infection. So that's definitely a plus!

How am I feeling?

As for me, I'm doing ok... no worse for the wear. At first when we saw there was a possibility of the cancer returning I was pretty upset. I had got to a point where I thought this was all behind me, only to then learn we still have a ways to go. Now I'm doing ok. The way I see it, I had a one month vacation and now have to go back to my normal "routine."

I am worried about this semester though. I have two classes on campus and missing 5 weeks means almost a third of the semester. Not only that, I'm not sure when those 5 weeks will be. They could occur anytime between March & May. So I need to sit down with my professors and hopefully we can figure something out.

Even my online courses have me a little worried. They seem to include a large amount of groupwork for the semester, and I hope I can keep up my end. While my doctor said it's good to be optimistic during the transplant process, I have to realize there might be some days when getting out of bed and walking over to a chair takes all the energy I have.

Well, back to the grind!

Until next time!