July 10, 2010

Rituxan, that is what I will be doing every other month for the next two years. Rituxan is a man-made antibody that keeps cancer from spreading. I have been doing Rituxan along with the chemo the last several months. The long term side effects run the spectrum. Some people are very ill with it and others have few or no side effects. This drug does lower the blood platelets so I have to be careful to keep germs away since my body won't be as strong to fight infection. Dr. Kaplan told me though that this risk is minimal.

It has taken me awhile to process this new information. I was feeling depressed last weekend but after spending last Saturday dealing with my feelings I am better. I cried a good part of the day. Then I knew it was time to move on and make the best of the situation. Two years seems like a long time to me. I think that is what I find the most overwhelming. Every other month I need to travel to Ketchikan or Seattle for treatment. That is a lot for a person who loves to stay home. I am going to try Ketchikan for treatment and see how it goes. I am a bit nervous about putting another doctor on my team. I have read the research and the more medical providers involved with a person is not a really good thing. Medical providers do not communicate well with each other. I don't want to give up Dr. Kaplan since he is a Lymphoma specialist and knows what he is doing but I don't want to fly to Seattle 6 times a year. I am going to alternate my treatments between Ketchikan and Seattle and if I decide I don't like it then I will drop Ketchikan and just bite the bullet about flying to Seattle all the time.

Rituxan is a one day treatment. The IV drip itself will take approximately 4 hours. The rest of the day will be spent waiting for my doctor's appointment and then waiting to get called in to do the drip. I don't know how this will go in Ketchikan but in Seattle there is a lot of waiting.
I am thinking of buying a very simple laptop that will allow me to watch DVDs' and get on-line.
Both of those things should help pass the time.

I am thinking of starting some kind of support group for people with cancer. I have really enjoyed talking to people on Prince of Wales who have or had cancer. We all know exactly what we are talking about and if one talks about possible death no one says 'oh, you will be fine.' Those of us who live with cancer know that 'fine' is not always the end result. It is easier to be open about our side effects, treatments, fears, and even happy moments. I will pray about this.

Here is another picture from the party weekend. I look at these pictures often because the weekend was so much fun. In this picture we were pretending to show off our 'cleavage' since the infamous black dress has a low neckline.
Thanks for reading.