Rituxan #2-Reality hits

I underwent my second (and final for the next six months HOPEFULLY!) treatment yesterday.  It was an even better experience than the first treatment. They were able to tap a vein in two pokes as opposed to the four it took last time.  It also went by more quickly as they were able to increase the IV flow more this time since my body handled the Rituxan well last time. 

Two weeks ago, after my first treatment,Jimmy & I were both very pleasantly surprised at how light my side effects were.  Minimal nausea, no vomiting, only a low grade headache and my worst side effect was the fatigue.  So we were heading into this treatment with far less concerns.  But on Sunday, the day before the second treatment, my nausea got much worse and I started vomiting.  Since I got home from the treatment yesterday, the nausea is constant (I've been toting my puke bucket around with me everywhere), my stomach is revolting in other, unpleasant ways, there is a never ending buzzing headache and a low grade temp.  I am also starting to lose big clumps of hair though I think that is to be attributed to the Methotrexate and not the Rituxan as hair loss is not a usual side effect for the Rituxan.  I will keep an eye on the hair loss and will make a decision soon if we should go for the big chop.  

To focus on the positive, my kids and husband are being so amazingly helpful.  Yesterday, Aidan waited on me hand and foot, covering me with a blanket, bringing me my trusty puke bucket, constantly asking if I was doing ok.  We also had another meal delivery from church which was just amazing and perfect timing.  My devotional yesterday morning was perfect timing, as usual.  It said "Your ongoing struggle is not a mistake or punishment.  Try to view it, instead, as a rich opportunity: Your uphill journey keeps you aware of your neediness, so you look to Me for help."  AMEN!

Life after the first treatment

I settled in last Friday night with some Laffy Taffy's (of course!), a few past episodes of the Duggars and my first chemo treatment.  I was nervous about how it would go so I escaped into someone elses crazy life for a bit.  About halfway through Michelle's birthday surprise show the side effects started.  I was extremely dizzy (good thing I was on the couch!) with a yucky taste in my mouth.  My lips were tingling and soon, I was just flat out exhausted.  I crawled into bed about an hour later and then the nausea began.  Thankfully, due to the advice I found online to take the chemo at night, I was able to sleep through most of the nausea.  I spent all day Saturday in bed....sleeping and reading while occasionally cradling a puke bucket (sad to say, this has become normal for me), but thankfully the nausea didn't get too out of hand.  I was able to eat bland food most of the weekend (couldn't manage dinner Sunday night but that loss of calories is certainly not going to hurt me!) and keep it down which was much better than I expected.

Fast forward a few days and it's the middle of next week, two days away from my next treatment and I'm starting to feel back to my pre-chemo self.  If this pattern holds, I'll have two days of feeling well each week and the rest spent in bed.  I hope my body is able to "push through" the side effects like some people I read about and that this isn't a lasting problem.  We are cautiously optimistic that we've seen the worst of it but I was told it could take two to three weeks for the side effects to fully kick in, waiting until the chemo was built up in my system so we will see.  For now, we've rearranged most of our social calendar to allow us to stay home on the weekends and we will just play the waiting game.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8