Rituxan Round 3: Failure Is Not An Option

IMG_3797Forgive me for not writing about this sooner. I had to schedule my third Rituxan treatment on Wednesday due to the Thanksgiving holiday and it kicked my butt! I was flatlined on Thursday, very little eating and enjoying turkey day with everyone. I tried to make up for it by eating leftovers all day on Friday. And yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, I had 234,000 platelets Wednesday morning!

The view from my room, I enjoy having the sunlight on me.

The view from my room, I enjoy having the sunlight on me.

The theme for my third treatment was “Failure is NOT an Option!” The reason being, I couldn’t let myself give up, no matter how bad the side effects impacted me. I wasn’t going to let platelet counts dictate my happiness either. I won’t know if Rituxan worked until sometime in January/February once I’m off prednisone and we track my numbers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, so far things are looking up.

I was excited that my vein cooperated with me!

I was excited that my vein cooperated with me!

As I continue on this journey, 7 months as of 12/1, I still marvel at how I got to this point. I never would have imagined having this blog, doing chemo, working on a “new normal” and just trying to live my life one day at a time. I’ve stopped wondering when I would wake up and realize everything was a dream. I embraced that being an E-Patient Advocate is my future. And yes, it is capitalized because it is a title worthy of such, talking about diseases is to fun. In fact, it is extremely depressing, but I also discovered I have the ability to find good things in terrible situations. I can say with certainty that I am not a pessimist!

Friday is my last treatment. I am anxious to get it done!