My first round of chemotherapy begins with a 9-hour session on Thursday, November 17 and a 3-hour session on Friday, November 18. Although I am not looking forward to this procedure, the oncologist suggests that I may begin experiencing relief from the pain after the first round.
I met with Dr. Peter Ledakis at Mercy last Thursday (11/10). Because George was away on business, Michael went with me to the appointment. We talked about the chemotherapy treatments I will receive and some of the side effects that I may experience, e.g., nausea and hair thinning (not hair loss). He said that I would probably be very tired after the first 9-hour session. We also talked about the various supplements (vitamins, etc.) that they would give me because of my anemia (caused by the lymphoma.
Yesterday (11/14), I received a call from the office of Dr. Vadim Gushchin, Director of the surgical/oncology department at Mercy, That call was to schedule the surgical implant of a port through which I will receive the chemotherapy (beginning with round #2). We scheduled that procedure for Tuesday, 11/22 at 6:30 AM. The port is inserted into the chest just below the collar bone. This procedure is a little out of sync with the first round of chemotherapy because I am also on Coumadin (a blood thinner) therapy – and I have to discontinue Coumadin for five days before the surgery.
I continue to receive daily calls and emails from Jessica, Juanita, Tara and Bernie for updates. I am very grateful to all of them for checking on me.
Tomorrow, Tiffany is coming over to give me an iPad tutorial and to download some movies so that I have something to do during the chemotherapy sessions. I'm looking forward to seeing Tiffany and learning how to use the iPad.
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