New Treatment

I've tried to write an update a few times over the last week or so, and for whatever reasons I haven't been able to get through it. So I'll try to include as much as has been going on since the most recent PET scan.

The biopsy of my lymph node was delayed about a week because all of the interventional radiologists at NIH were away for a conference the week after my PET scan. However, I went in on a Monday morning and had them draw some tissue from the lymph node under my armpit, and the waiting was on. The first news I got was from my Dad, who knows one of the pathologists at NIH. He let me know in the middle of that week that the samples were cancerous. So keeping the fingers crossed that the PET was incorrect didn't help.

The stains that were run on my tissue samples took a few days longer to be analyzed, so there wasn't any other major news that week. However, my doctors had switched me back to sirolimus because it is for immune suppression while also having anti-tumor effects. One of the side effects of sirolimus though is mouth sores, and my mouth and throat definitely flared up after starting back on sirolimus. So for the last week or so I've been having trouble swallowing and eating most foods, much like I had trouble with before starting on prednisone back in June.

Last week my parents and I met with my doctor. He shared that the biopsy results showed no CD20 markers, but an abundance of cells with CD25 and CD30 markers. What this means is that the plan to use Rituxan, the anti-CD20 antibody, is not an option. The good news regarding those other markers, is that there are drugs available for treating both of those as well. The anti-CD30 antibody is currently in trial through the company that is developing it. My doctor was confident that NIH would be able to gain access to it for my use, but the paperwork might take a while. the anti-CD25 treatment is called Ontak, and is readily available at NIH. Since my cancer has been pretty aggressive in the past, the recommendation was to start with Ontak now, and possibly keep the option of the CD30 treatment for the future. The pathology from my biopsy showed a high prevalence of both CD25 and CD30 markers, so they should both react well to whichever treatment was used.

Part of the Ontak drug is a toxin, diptheria, which will help kill the cancer cells after they are identified. The main side effect of this toxin involves capillary leaking. This is when fluid will leak out of the capillaries and cause swelling. The risk of this happening in the lungs could cause severe flu like symptoms. Another possible side effect of Ontak is loss of vision. These don't sound like much fun, but my doctor didn't seem overly worried about them. I asked about how this might compare to the chemotherapy I've had in the past, and he stated that he just couldn't say. Its possible that my body could handle it much better or possibly worse. So who knows. However, most things I've read show that most people only have mild or moderate side effects from Ontak.

Another benefit of Ontak is that it has successfully been used as a treatment for GVHD. Since my GVHD is still a big issue right now, it would be great to have the anti-cancer effects of this drug as well as some help with my GVHD symptoms. I certainly hope to have positive results on both fronts from this drug.

So this week I will try to get started on the Ontak protocol. My doctor said we can try to maneuver around my work schedule, and I am curious as to how that will work out. Ontak is administered over five consecutive days, and I wonder how much time in the hospital that will require for each of those visits. There are definitely a lot of details with this therapy that I don't have yet, but the plan seems good for now. Its possible that after Ontak, more treatment, such as a boost of donor cells or more chemotherapy might be used in order to really try and knock my cancer out. Those type of decisions will of course be decided later.

Less than a week from now will be the Light the Night Walk for Washington, DC. I'm very proud that the team I've set up is just 25.00 dollars away from the goal of 5,000 dollars that I set. Thanks to everybody who has given to this cause to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The longer I keep dealing with this disease, it makes me realize how important that events like this are held that allow organizations like this to assist patients and further research. http://pages.lightthenight.org/nca/WashDC09/JohnBlattnerHatesCancer

Nine Months Post Transplant

Today is nine months out from my bone marrow transplant and I was confident that I would be celebrating a positive result on my PET scan today. However, cancer sucks and it gave us another nasty little surprise. The doctor explained that there were two spots on the PET scan that looked like reoccurences of disease. One of those areas was the area where the main tumor has been located, although he stated that it wasn't a large mass like had been seen previously. The other area of concern is the left axial lymph node, which is located near the left armpit. This is an area where I haven't had any activity before as far as I know.

So its an immediate downer to hear that there has been some regrowth, but its positive to know that since I have been having these PET scans so frequently, that this growth is being caught quickly. Of course the next topic of conversation after what exactly is going on is what are we going to do. The doctor outlined some plans that I'll share about in a minute, but the first thing to be done is a needle biopsy of the lymph node. The pathology from that biopsy will hopefully give a good idea of what this latest growth looks like, and a clearer treatment plan can be outlined. Until the results of that biopsy are back though nothing will change.

The regrowth is probably a result of having to continue on immunosuppressants and adding prednisone in order to quell my chronic GVHD symptoms. I was getting great results on previous PET scans which can be attributed to the new immune system fighting the cancer cells. However, the GVHD symptoms were becoming too much to bear, especially the fact that it was impossible for me to swallow without severe pain. While my GVHD symptoms have improved since June, it appears that having to fight the GVHD has stopped the graft versus tumor effect which is key to eliminating all of the disease. Therefore the plan of treatment right now is to aggressively taper me off of the prednisone, while restarting me on one of my immunosuppressants, sirolimus. The doctor explained that sirolimus can have a tumor fighting effect, and I'll have to rely on it to minimalize flareups of the GVHD. I believe tacrolimus, the immunosuppressant I am on now, will be taken off when the sirolimus is reintroduced.

In addition to the changes in medicines relating to the GVHD, the current plan would be to start me on weekly rituxin infusions. Rituxan is a drug that I have taken before as part of my chemotherapy regimen. I didn't have any adverse reactions to it, so I'm not bummed about having to take it. The combination of sirolimus and rituxin, and the removal of prednisone would hopefully weaken the remaining cancer cells and boost my immune system enough to fight the cancer.

Another drug that might be introduced if the doctors don't see the desired response with just rituxin would be bortezomib, commercially known as Velcade. I'll go with vVelcade since its easier to say and spell. This drug is fairly new, having been approved by the FDA for use with multiple myeloma back in 2003. My doctor said that this could be a good drug for this situation since Velcade has immune boosting tendencies as well as anti-cancer effects.

Rituxin and Velcade are treatments that are closer on the horizon. Other options such as more chemotherapy, a booster dose of donor stem cells, and some gene therapy treatment that NIH is expecting to begin in the next year are options that could be needed down the line. The boost of donor stem cells wouldn't be a great option right now since the active GVHD that I have would likely get a lot worse with new cells introduced to the body. A more severe GVHD certainly wouldn't be fun to deal with, so the less harmful treatment options will be pursued first, and hopefully my GVHD will start to run its course on its own.

So thats the disappointing news right now. Its certainly not good news, but I don't feel like its the worst my family or I have had to deal with over the last two years. It was mid-September two years ago when I was first diagnosed with lymphoma, so September is really becoming one of my least favorite months. However, after getting the news yesterday I was back at work today, and I'll be heading up to New York to visit Kate's family this weekend. So I'm not making any changes to life quite yet. This news might cause some adjustments to be made sometime in the future, but for right now I'm going to continue living life as normal.

Part of living that normal life involves the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk a month from today on October 17th. The team I've set up has raised over 2,000 dollars towards our goal of 5,000. I'm definitely impressed and happy about that number so far! Anybody who wants to join us for the walk or who would like to donate to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are definitely welcome.http://pages.lightthenight.org/nca/WashDC09/JohnBlattnerHatesCancer

I definitely want to say thanks to my family and everybody else who has shown their support by donating so far. I'll be sure to keep people updated with whats going on with my journey. Thanks again to everybody who has been sending out their prayers and positive thoughts!

Stopped Counting Days...7+ Months Out

Been a while since I've updated here, and I haven't intended to go so long without an update. I guess watching Isaiah and making hospital visits during the summer has been enough to keep me from updating my blog. The biggest thing going on is that I had another PET scan last Friday and the results were stable to slightly improved again. The cancer remaining is described as minimal by the doctors, but I'm always eager to hear that there is no cancer at all. I'm not there yet, but things continue to go in the right direction.

While the cancer cells are disappearing, the new immune system continues to cause issues with GVHD. Since starting Prednisone at the beginning of the summer, I am doing much better. I have gained back the weight I lost when I couldn't swallow, and my appetite is pretty decent. My throat has slowly improved and doesn't bother me on most days. It isn't normal, but I can finish a meal in a reasonable amount of time and without pain now.

I continue to have ulcers in my mouth, but my sensitivity to different types of foods has improved. I joined a new clinical study for a topical thalidomide gel applied directly to the ulcers in my mouth. A lot of the doctors at NIH were eager to see how I did on the study, but the mouth pain didn't improve and I was taken off of the study after just a week. I had a bit of a flair up with the mouth pain after that week, but things have calmed since then.

I had a follow-up appointment with the opthamologist last week, and he saw no signs of the scar tissue he had seen the previous month. That was great news to hear. My skin rashes had been improving for the most part on the Prednisone, although last week I developed a new rash. On my forearms I started getting very irritated looking bumps. Over a few days the bumps increased in quantity and size. I had a small group of doctors including the dermatologist who has been following me stumped as to what it could be. On Wednesday I had a skin biopsy and a skin exam with the dermatologist, and he shared that it is probably just another presentation of GVHD. He said what it looks like I have now looks like hives, which is more rare for GVHD, but he can't find another way to explain it. Its a crappy experience to leave your doctors clueless, but this doesn't appear to be anything too serious. It itches more than the other rashes I've had, but it seems to be clearing up somewhat in my uninformed view.

So thats where I am medically. The cancer isn't quite gone and the GVHD is better but still bothersome at times. My energy level isn't what it was like before cancer, but its improving. I had a meeting at work today, and it will be exciting to get back to work in less than a month.

Returning to school means that summer is on its way out, which brings me to something going on this fall. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has an annual event called Light the Night. Its a fundraiser for their organization and I've decided to start a fundraising team that will participate in their walk in downtown DC the night of October 17th. It would be great if anybody would like to join my family for the walk and decided to fundraise on their own. Anybody who doesn't want to fundraise or walk could also make donations through one of my family members or I through the webpage for our team.

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nca/WashDC09/JohnBlattnerHatesCancer

I'll keep people updated with the progress of the team's fundraising, and if there are any opportunities for people to get involved.

Day +197

Having cancer has made it very easy to remember my haircuts. There haven't been many over the last two years, and today Kate gave me a trim with the clippers. My hair has been growing well, just not in all areas. The flaky, dry skin on my head hasn't been conducive to growing hair, and I've looked somewhat crazy lately. I had a balding pattern going on with long hairs that refused to do anything but stand straight up on my head. Now it is shorter, not quite bald, and hopefully it will start coming in a little better.

Over the last week it has felt good knowing the tumor has shrunk. I've been feeling pretty good with the prednisone as well until Tuesday night. My mouth became very sensitive to the texture of food, and I've had a flare up of the GVHD in my mouth. The last two days I've had new sores in my mouth, especially on the tongue. This makes eating and talking uncomfortable, which is especially a nuisance with Kate and I's anniversary today and the 4th of July tommorow. A nice dinner to celebrate four years would have been nice, but I think we will put that off until my mouth is ready to enjoy nice food.

Since the prednisone has been improving my symptoms pretty smoothly, the plan was to taper my dosage again. However, the flare up in the mouth led the doctor I saw today to keep me at the levels I am currently on. Its a little disappointing that I've had a bit of a setback with the symptoms, but this is all just part of what I have to deal with. Mouth pain aside, the rest of my symptoms haven't regressed and I am feeling pretty good overall. I'll make the best of this weekend, and I hope everybody else has a great Independence Day weekend as well!

Day +189

Summer vacation is here for a school employee like me, which meant plenty of time this week to visit NIH. I've put in full days there each of the last three days, and will head over to Bethesda tommorrow for a quicker visit. I've entered a new study at NIH that is not therapeutic, but involves tests in order to collect data on chronic GVHD. I've visited a slew of disciplines for this, including dermatology, dental, opthamology, and more.

I've visited the skin and mouth doctors plenty of times in recent months, and there isn't much going on there. Both of those areas have improved with the introduction of prednisone recently, so that is a positive. The opthamologist was happy with everything he saw until he got to the final part of his GVHD examination. He flipped back the upper eye lid and noticed some scar tissue on the inside of the lid. He felt that this could have explained the runny eyes and crustiness that I had recently. While the prednisone has cleaned up those eye issues, he was still concerned that the scar tissue there could have a negative effect on the eyeball. He prescribed me some eye drops as well as a steroid ointment for the eyes. I'm not happy about having to medicate my eyes, but at least this might prevent a more serious future problem. This makes me thankful that I chose to participate in this study.

So the prednisone is slowly easing the discomfort and pain of the GVHD, and this study is helpful because there are a lot of talented doctors weighing in on how to best treat this issue. Meanwhile the cancer is still there and my family is praying and hoping for that to improve. Today was another PET scan and like always its a big deal to hear what the results are. The meeting to discuss my situation was scheduled for 3:00, but it was closer to 4:00 by the time it got started. We have learned that waiting for the results hasn't been a good sign, so that raises the anxiety. My dad was the only person with me at the meeting, which was probably a good thing. Kate and my mom would have been stressing having to wait that long to hear the results.

The lead transplant doctor and several other familiar medical faces were there for the meeting. He looked exhausted and stated in a beat-up voice, "The scan showed significant improvement." It was great news to hear but the voice he said it in was somewhat depressing. One of the nurses and another doctor kind of gave each other an odd look when they heard him give such positive news in that type of voice. My Dad appeared to match the doctor's emotions and seemed ready to take in some more worrisome news. However, hearing "significant improvement," no matter what the delivery was like, was an immediate great feeling. The doctor explained that the previous spots near the tumor had all disappeared on this scan! Great news. He also stated that the size and the intensity of the tumor had significantly decreased as well. EVEN BETTER NEWS! There was a spot on the sternum that lit up on the PET, although it was barely measurable. He had no explanation for that, but was unconcerned about it considering how much the tumor mass had responded.

So while the phrase "No Evidence of Disease" has not been mentioned, this is still a great result. My new immune system is doing its job quite well! Since the transplant I have had a PET scan every month in order to closely monitor the tumor site. PET scans this frequently definitely aren't commonplace, but this was the doctor's decision considering how quickly I relapsed last year after experiencing a full remission. It was a positive sign today that he felt it wasn't necessary to have a PET scan next month. He was willing to wait a longer period of time before the next scan, which is always a milestone for a cancer survivor. I decided to go ahead and have a scan in a month anyways just to be on the safe side in monitoring the cancer. However, its an amazing feeling to know that enough progress has been made that the doctor is willing to increase the amount of time between scans.

So I remain on the prednisone and I am taking other topical steroids in order to control the GVHD. Its not a pleasant deal at all, but there is some sort of satisfaction in worrying more about this than the cancer. I'll continue to visit NIH a couple of times a week most likely through the summer. However, I am hoping that when work resumes in the middle of August that I'll be healthy enough to put a lot of my current struggles behind me.

Day +178

After my appointment last Tuesday, I returned to NIH on Friday for the doctors to check on my GVHD symptoms and discuss the next step in treatment. My Dad was able to come to the meeting as well, with some questions he had for the doctors. The meeting was in the afternoon and I was pretty exhausted at that point. My fatigue seemed to be getting worse the previous few days, and my mouth was irritating me as much as ever. Not only was I still having trouble swallowing, but I was developing sores on the top of my tongue that made putting anything in my mouth, even room temperature water, uncomfortable.

So the nurse practicioner I saw on Tuesday initially thought I looked worse when she saw me Friday. She had me weighed and I had lost two and a half pounds in the three days since my last visit. This is my lowest weight since I was first diagnosed back in September 2007. In the last three weeks I lost thirteen pounds, which is more than a pound every two days. I think its safe to say I wasn't heading down a healthy path.

When the doctor saw that I wasn't rebounding in the last few days he decided it was trime to start the systemic treatment with Prednisone. I was prepared for this and it was a relief to know that I would be getting some relief. My father asked about losing the graft versus tumor effect when starting the Prednisone, which was a concern of mine as well. The doctor explained that statistics show an improvement in graft versus tumor effect with mild GVHD, but that there is no correlation between greater graft versus tumor effect and more severe GVHD. Since I have already had the minor GVHD symptoms, his thought was that I likely already received as much of the graft versus tumor help as I can get. This was a relief to my father and I to hear, and made it clear that there really would be no reason to not start the Prednisone treatment at this time.

My father brought up his thought that more tumor-fighting techniques could be used to help eliminate the tumor because of its tough nature and the aggressiveness with which it came back last year. He brought up the idea of radiation with the doctor, who did not rule that out as a possibility in the future. Most patients who have a mediastinal lymphoma receive radiation after their initial chemotherapy. I did not receive this after chemotherapy because the original study I was in was testing if the therapy I was given would eliminate the need for radiation. The idea of radiation certainly isn't pleasing, but there are plenty of people who have been through it and are doing well. If that is something I need to have done in order to improve my chances of living cancer free, then it would be worthwhile. For now the doctor wants to focus on improving my GVHD symptoms, and possibly thinking about radiation further down the line after some more scans.

So in addition to the Prednisone the doctors gave me some morphine to help with the pain of swallowing and some encouragement to keep nourishing myself despite the discomfort. I started the Prednisone Friday evening, so while I write this I have only taken three doses of it. Its pretty encouraging though that Kate has already noticed an improvement in how I appear to feel. I feel its made a big difference already as well. The most obvious sign that I've noticed is that my skin rash looks better. I had a rash on the back of my hands that were raised purplish/reddish bumps, and those are barely noticeable now. My throat feels better although it is still uncomfortable and occasionally painful to swallow. Taking the morphine before meals seems to help a little bit. My fatigue has also seemed to improve, although some of that might be explained by the energy boost that Prednisone tends to give you.

So I will be interested to see how I feel as I continue to take the Prednisone. Returning to a more normal state would be great, and keeping the GVHD from giving me further problems is the most important issue right now.

Day +173

I continue to work and this past Friday was the first payday since I've been back. The check came in the mail with a whopping $13.73 made out in my name! Well...it was only two days worth of work, so it wasn't quite a full paycheck. However, even when I am receiving my full pay checks, they will not be their usual amounts for a while. When I took medical leave in December, I elected to continue with our health insurance through work so Isaiah and Kate would still be covered. The options we were given were to either pay as we go or to incur a debt. Since we would be short on money for other bills anyways, we decided to incur the debt, which would then be deducted when I started receiving pay again. About six months of health insurance premiums is a good amount of money, so the debt won't be paid off right away. I was expecting the full amount of my pay check to go towards the debt, but I guess somebody felt I needed that thirteen dollars for something. I'll have to check with payroll about how long it will take to pay off the health insurance debt, but finances are still an issue despite being back to work. At least I can take solace in knowing that avoiding the insurance system and getting my care at NIH has helped our family immensely when it comes to money.

On to the health stuff, I was given an antibiotic last week for a bacterial infection, and it seemed to clear up my congestion pretty well. The members of the team I met with last week were hopeful that when that cleared up that my swallowing might improve, but that wasn't to be. My throat feels a little better, but it is still painful to swallow. I lost another four pounds this week, so I'm still having a hard time with eating. The GVHD on my skin and in my mouth has been pretty stable though. Any changes with those have been pretty minor. However, the GVHD has been getting worse below the belt. I met with a couple of infectious disease doctors today who shared that the problems there aren't the results of any infections. One of the doctors from the transplant team took a look at what is going on and stated that it looked like GVHD. Dermatology has been trying to help me out with that, but nothing seems to be solving the issue.

This doctor from the transplant team seems to feel pretty strongly that its time to put me on prednisone. This would be the systemic steroid that would clear up the GVHD symptoms relatively quickly. He explained that my GVHD isn't serious at this point, but that he doesn't like where its heading. I'd be relieved to start the prednisone and to have these symptoms improve. However, the prednisone would decrease the potential graft versus tumor effect, and there is a small fear in the back of my head that it might be best to hold off on it longer. However, I also might be fine and no growth would occur if I started prednisone now. Its impossible to know what will happen with cancer. Right now though the improvement in quality of living would definitely be welcomed.

Ten Pounds

Today was day five of my second cycle of chemotherapy, which means I received my cytoxin infusion and had my PICC line pulled out. So I am no longer connected to a backpack full of medicine!!!
I had a different nurse the last two days, and she decided to weigh me before my infusion. I usually don't get weighed at this time, but I did so today. On Thursday, just 5 days ago, I weighed in at 239 pounds. That was only 3 pounds more than I had weighed before my first round of EPOCH-C. So I was proud of myself for not gaining a lot of weight despite all of the hunger I experience with the prednisone.
So just 5 prednisone fueled days after the last weigh in, I jumped on the scales at 249! 10 pounds in less than 5 days is impressive. Thats some good eating! Now...I did leave my shoes on, have a bit of crap in my pocket, and was wearing long pants instead of shorts, so it might have been just 9 pounds. However, that is still a lot to put on in such a short amount of time. It will be interesting to see how my weight does over the next 16 days when I am off of the steroids.
Besides the full belly I am doing well though. I was able to work this morning and Monday, which was nice to do since Monday was the first day of school for students. Seeing the students who I've worked with before and meeting new students reminded me so much why I love my job. It felt great to be back in that environment, but disappointing at the same time since I don't know how much I will be able to work this year while dealing with this illness. Its discouraging to know that I won't be there everyday, but this is just one of those situations where I have to take things from day to day. For the rest of the week I plan on working, but I know next week my blood counts will be so low that I might not have the energy to make it through a day of work. My lead research doctor let me know to be prepared to enter the hospital next week, but I'm hoping that won't need to happen.

Chemotherapy Update

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 06, 2008 03:25 PM, CDT
Today is Wednesday...Day 6 in this round of chemotherapy. Yesterday I spent several hours at the hospital receiving the last of my chemotherapy. After that I had the PICC line, 52 cms of catheter, removed from my veins and was sent on my way. Since leaving the hospital on Friday, the process has felt pretty uneventful. It hasn't been that long since I had chemo, and it unfortunately rushes back into your consciousness quickly. While its a crappy experience, it feels almost normal to me.
Today I am exhausted. Part of the chemotherapy is taking a steroid called Prednisone. It gives me a huge hunger, which isn't a bad thing since I love to eat, and a lot of energy. However, my final dose of prednisone was last night, and this morning I could do nothing but sleep. Without the steroids in my system, I truly feel how much these drugs beat the body down. It sucks to feel worthless, and I've got some of that going on. I can still do some of the daddy stuff with Isaiah and help out a miniscule amount around the house, but not much.
Don't know what else to write. I think I could write a novel about how the chemo messes with the usual bodily functions, but I know not everybody will be interested in that. I think I'll keep the posting here clean and get back to napping.

EPOCH-C

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2008 09:38 PM, CDT
I didn't go to the hospital today, but I got a lot of information. My parents went to meet with my treatment team, and I chose not to go so I could handle other business. I also will be spending a lot of time at the hospital tommorow, so I enjoyed not being there today.
The report back from my parents was that the biopsy last Friday gave good information. The nature of Grey Zone lymphoma is that it has signs of Hodgkins Disease and Non Hodgkins Lymphoma(NHL). My current tumor did not have signs of CD20 cells, which are the marker for B cell lymphoma. So the treatment I went through last year appears to have been successful in eliminating the aspects of my tumor that more closely resembled NHL. Therefore my current tumor is closer to Hodgkins Disease than the previous growth I had last year. However, the doctors are still classifying my tumor as Grey Zone lymphoma and not Hodgkins disease.
The best news about receiving results from the biopsy is that I should be able to start treatment tommorow. I will continue to receive EPOCH, the same base regimen that I received last time. I also received Rituxan last year, but don't think I will be receiving it this time around. Rituxan is an CD20 antibody, and since there is no presence of CD20 cells in my tissue sample, it doesn't appear to be necessary. There was evidence of CD52 cells, which are treated in Leukemia patients with Campath. The plan from my treatment team is to include Campth with this regimen of treatment. Campath has a lot of side effects and reading about them doesn't give me a reassuring feeling. However, my father explained that Leukemia patients will receive about 1000 mg of Campath over the course of their treatment, and I will be receiving only 30 mg per cycle. I am also younger than most Leukemia patients, so the likelihood of serious side effects should not be as big of an issue with my treatment. That was confusing and the best I could describe this issue. The science that goes into this process is truly amazing.
So tommorow is my big day. All of the talk ends, and I get down to curing this bitch for good. I have a Pet Scan tommorow, which isn't a big deal after undergoing two of these in the last year. My veins get filled with radioactive liquid, and some extremely detailed pictures of the cancer in my body will be taken. This should give the doctors an even better idea of what they are dealing with. I have a meeting with my doctors in the afternoon, and barring any unforseen obstacles I will have a PICC line inserted into my arm sometime before or after that meeting. That will leave some tubes hanging from my arm...kind of strange.
I'll start on my first medication, Prednisone, which is a steroid. That drug is legit, and makes me crave food like an addict. It helped me get back to a healthy weight last time around, but since I haven't shrank this time around, I wonder if it will make me put on extra weight. Oh well...there are worse side effects. Twelve hours after I take the prednisone they will start me on the Campath for 12 hours. That will keep me in the hospital overnight tommorow, which is usually not a fun thing. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep through it. After that I'll get my fanny pack and chemo bag for the next 4 days of chemotherapy joy!
Today has brought me several different feelings. I'm happy because I know I'll be able to start treatment right away and not let this cancer grow any more inside of me. However, the reality of all of the crappy issues I have to deal with is finally setting in. Well...I've got no other choice, so here it goes. Thanks for your prayers and support!