Time speeds by. It is still difficult to believe that I'm now ending the fourth round of chemotherapy and I apologize to all of you who have been waiting for a new post on the blog.
The last two days at Mercy Medical Center's Outpatient Chemotherapy have gone very well. [Thank you so much, Patty Wilcoxson, for the transport to and from and your delightful and always upbeat company throughout]. It is always very difficult to determine just how long the treatments will take. My appointed arrival was scheduled for 9:30; however, I didn't actually enter the treatment room until almost 11:00. By the time we got the laboratory work completed and my chemotherapy was delivered, it was well after 1:00. There are a couple of pre-chemo drugs given. Well, we finally got out of there at 3:30...and unbelievably long time when you consider that the drugs themselves take only 1 1/2 hours.
I had an appointment with Dr. Ledakis on Thursday just before the chemo session. He continues to be very positive about my progress. He was disappointed to hear that during the procedure on January 17 to remove the stent, Dr. Silber decided that the inflammation around the kidney was still too sufficient to remove it - and so he inserted a new one, which has to remain in place for another three months.
The good news is that we've scheduled another full body CT scan for March 1. That will determine, hopefully, more shrinkage in the mass of lympatic cells. We are already beginning to see good response to the chemotherapy and Dr. Ledakis confirmed that he feels six rounds of chemo should be sufficient. Of course, he cautions that, although highly unlikely, I may need some follow-up sessions.
I began the post-chemo injections today and will continue those for the next three days.
Thank you, dear, dear family and friends for your phone calls, notes of encouragement, and especially Janet Jester's chocolates which ALWAYS make the chemotherapy sessions go easier!
