Two down, two to go! I can’t wait to be finished!
I managed to get through my second treatment of Rituxan yesterday rather quickly. I was still fairly nervous, this time the drip was quicker and there was no waiting period between the premeds and treatment. Thankfully I didn’t have any reactions, I wasn’t even tired from the Benadryl. I had my same wonderful nurse, Heather and yes they asked me if I had Ebola. I totally cracked up laughing when I was being processed. Even the guy at the desk couldn’t help but laugh. Not that Ebola is funny, but just the fact that you’re being asked if you traveled to West Africa in the last seven days since doing chemo. Yeah, I wish I had the energy!
I have a confession, I almost passed out when the port went in. My veins were not cooperating, so Heather had to stick a vein near my thumb. I didn’t watch, but the pain shot up through my arm. I turned ghost white, which for me probably means transparent but hey, whatever. Everyone just stood around me and waited to see what happened. I’m stubborn so I kept saying I was fine, in reality I wanted to yell every four letter word I know. I let them all assume I watched which is why I reacted, but truth is the pain got to me. I still retain a little bit of my pre-illness pride. I’ll never admit to a wimpy moment!
This time around I used my laptop. I tweeted a lot and was working on an article about living with ITP for a new organization called BleedFree. They provide support for people and families living with all kinds of blood disorders. I am honored to contribute a piece about my disease, as I have come to discover no matter what blood disorder you have, we all tend to experience similar situations.
So Wednesday will bring about my third treatment. I am sad that I won’t be very spunky on Thanksgiving. I am surprised by my lack of appetite during this process. I am still on prednisone because of my bleeding a few weeks ago, but I guess Rituxan and the fatigue associated with it just mellows me out. I told everyone we have to have a do-over when I am finished with the process!
And on a happy note, my platelets were at a wonderful 199,000 yesterday! It is too soon to tell if Rituxan is working but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Bring on a temporary remission!