2nd round of chemo

I'm officially done with my 2nd round of chemo, which means I'm 1/3 of the way through treatment :) However, it has been one of the most difficult rounds I've ever been through. The reason this round has been so difficult is because my oncologist added Rituxan to my chemo regimen in hopes that it will have a synergistic effect in killing off the cancer cells. My body decided to have a little freak out because of the combination of Rituxan and Bendamustine (the chemo drug).

My aunt took me to treatment on Thursday and everything went very smoothly, but it was a very long day. In total, my drip lasted about 7 hours. I then went home feeling tired, but pretty normal. Around 9 pm, however, I started to get shortness of breath, chills and a fever. By the wee hours of the morning, I had a temp of 101, severe chills, cold sweats and continued shortness of breath. Unfortunately, my doctor's office didn't mention that I could have these side effects from the combo of Rituxan and Bendamustine (Benda for short). Michelle and I were beside ourselves as we had no idea what was happening, why it was happening or how much worse it would get. Thank goodness we were able to reach the oncologist on call and he assured us that it was just a reaction to the drugs and advised against going to the ER. I kept telling myself to keep it together, but to be honest it was one of the scariest nights I've had in a long time. But thankfully my fever and other symptoms broke around 4 or 5 am.

I was still scheduled for another round of Benda the next day, but I was soooo afraid to have more chemo put into my veins in case it would trigger another reaction. But I went to the treatment center despite my fears and my oncology nurse really put my fears at ease. He calmly explained that such reactions can happen from combining Rituxan and Benda and that I would most likely not have the same reaction Friday night. He calmed me down enough to receive the 2nd dose of Benda and Friday night went by with no reactions other than a few hot spots on my body.

Then Saturday arrived and I felt the usual fatigue and queasiness. I started a new anti-nausea drug and it seemed to be working really well. But by the time evening came around I had uncontrollable nausea and was vomiting. The worst part is that once the nausea gets out of control, it's really hard to get it back under control. So Saturday night and into Sunday morning I fought waves of nausea and cold sweats all night.

But thankfully by Sunday I had the nausea back under control and things went back to normal chemo recovery. Unfortunately, Monday rolled around and I had another weird reaction. I woke up and took the dog out to go and it was probably close to a 100 degrees, which my body definitely didn't like. From there my heart started racing and I felt faint and shaky. I tried to hydrate myself, eat a little, but nothing worked. So I did the only thing I could think of and that was to sleep. So I slept the day away, but even after I woke up that evening I still couldn't get rid of the shakiness. Today, however, seems a like a brand NEW day!!! I'm starting to feel like myself again and no weird symptoms or reactions. I still have fatigue, but that's to be expected. But needless to say, this round has a been a tough one. The doctors keep telling me that Rituxan and Benda are generally well tolerated, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like I'm falling into the well tolerated group.

I know I need to speak with my oncologist before the next round to see what can can be done to make my recovery more tolerable. I don't mean to sound like a whiney-hiney, but after all I've been through this round definitely more than any of the others threw me for a loop. Here's to hoping the rest of my treatments are easier . . .

Big hugs to my support group - I couldn't do it without you.