In the treatment room...

11:44 am - We got to Dr. Hema's office and after looking at my blood tests, he agreed to start the next rituxan treatment. After the pre-medications, the rituxan was started at about 10:30 am. Unfortunately, side effects started rather quickly. I became rather red in the face and felt quite uneasy. I felt a wave of nausea overcoming me and rolled my infusion pump with me into the restroom and was sick. As quickly as it came, the nausea feeling left. The nurse, under advisement of Dr. Hema, stopped the rituxan and is now administering a treatment for nausea. The rituxan will restart in about 15 minutes at a slow rate. The nurse thinks it will take until about 4:00 pm to get done.

Dr. Hema says the tests for viruses were all negative except there is a very slight indicator for Epstein-Barr. He said he consulted with other experts who opined that the symptoms were so slight that they would not even treat for it.

Almost every recliner is full today and some of the patients are young; 30's or 40's. It's one thing to get a cancer in your 60's or 70's, when you have enjoyed a nice life and lived to see your grandchildren, but it's quite another thing to be battling the fight of your lifetime, literally , at 35.

My adorable wife is sitting here patiently, lending her full support. One could not ask for more in a relationship. I am a very lucky man. Thank you, dear.

Happy birthday to one of my sons, G. We look forward to our visit.

More later.

I feel good, I knew that I would, now.

I have no symptoms at all now. I am back to my morning walks. I hope this means that I am all ready for Wednesday's treatment. I am anxious to get this all done and behind me. This is pretty funny, actually. Here I am begging and praying that I will be allowed to endure six hours of needles and noxious fluids! Please, sir, may I have another?

This cartoon hung on the refrigerator at my father's home for many years. Little did I know what it would eventually mean to me. No matter how many punches this thing throws at me, I must punch back...harder!

We are anxiously awaiting Wednesday's visit to Dr. Hema and, hopefully, next rituxan treatment.

So close and yet so far.

12:25 pm -- Here we are, back at home, but I had no second rituxan treatment.

As is usual, when I arrived, they took the usual vital signs; pulse, blood pressure, temperature, etc. Then when one enters the infusion room, blood samples are taken and analyzed. After a time, Dr.Hema came in and asked about my temperature and other history over the week since my last rituxan infusion. He opined that the issue may be virus activation, a rare side effect of rituxan. Rituxan evidently wakes up the dormant virus and tells it to get busy. Treatment can be given to stop it, but it's necessary to identify which virus is the culprit.

All adult human bodies contain viruses that, in almost all cases, remain dormant for life. An example is Epstein-Barr virus. As many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected. There are several other viruses that infect most adults but remain dormant for life.

In order to identify the particular virus to treat for in order to resume the rituxan infusions, Dr. Hema ordered more blood samples. I am starting to think Dr. Hema's answer to most problems is to draw blood!

He said that there is never a dull moment with me and I told him it would be great fodder for a medical journal article he should write, "The Man With Every Single Known Symptom!"

We are disappointed, but I surely want to do this right. The next appointment is Wednesday, August 12.

Another trip to Big City

We went to Dr. Cardio's office today to be fitted with a heart rate monitor and have an echo-cardiogram. Perhaps this will help us to figure out what about the rituxan triggers cardiac arrhythmia and, hopefully, stop it before it starts again.

All my symptoms are about cleared up. And that's good; now that I am 95% recovered from last Wednesday's infusion, I am all set to have another infusion tomorrow. I surely hope tomorrow goes smoothly and quickly. Whatever it is, I must endure it and get to the end of four treatments.

My appetite seems to be returning. While we were driving home I had a craving for Subway, so we stopped and I finished every bite!

Consult with Dr. Cardio

I called Dr. Cardio's nurse and described the interaction between the Rituxan infusion and my cardiac arrhythmia. She said she would confer with the doctor and call me back. When she did, she said Dr. Cardio said I should take an extra dose of one of my medications and take it if needed. She also said they wanted to put a monitor on me and schedule me for an echocardiogram. They may not get the echo on the schedule, but I am getting the monitor tomorrow at 10:00 am.

I should be quite a sight with an intravenous, a heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff! Can't the doctors figure out 3-4 more things to attach??? Oops! I must be careful what I wish for!

Today, I feel better, maybe 8.5 on a scale of 10. I have had no heart issues and my temperature is largely normal. My appetite is returning, although I'm not quite ready to face a greasy sausage and mushroom pizza!

I hope that the worst of my symptoms are behind me. We shall see Wednesday and beyond.

Complications seem to subside

I feel lousy,
Oh, so lousy,
I feel lousy and crummy and blah!
And I envy
Any guy who isn't me tonight.

My fever seems to be subsiding, although I always seem to be either too hot or too cold. I have very little appetite, which is very rare for me. I will telephone Dr. Cardio on Monday to ask for his recommendations prior to my next Rituxan infusion on Wednesday. Flu-like symptoms I don't really mind so much, but being a long term cardiac arrhythmia patient, I am sort of excited when my pulse goes wonky.

I hope I will be fully recovered by Wednesday for my next treatment!

Complications worsen

Thursday night, I awoke at 3:15 am to shivers and no matter how many layers I put over myself, I couldn't get warm. In the morning, I was very hot and no matter how many layers I removed, I was sweating! My temperature was 102.5. I took Tylenol and got up. I then had a near fainting spell and my heart rate became both fast and irregular.

For background, I have been afflicted with cardiac arrhythmia for 30+ years.

I called Nurse K and described my symptoms and she conferred with Dr. Hema. The verdict was to come to his office immediately. When I got to the office, my pulse was 137, compared to my usual 65. Nurse K administered an electro-cardiogram which was examined by Dr. Hema. He contacted my cardiologist and faxed him the electro-cardiogram. The verdict was that an irregular heartbeat is a known side-effect of Rituxan, although Dr. Hema had not actually seen it until me! I was sent home and told that the cardiologist would call with a change in the medication.

I was highly relieved; I thought, for sure, that I would be admitted to the hospital.

By the time we got home, my irregular heartbeat was over. I went to bed and had a great night; never too hot and never too cold.

I have resigned myself to the thought that after a Rituxan treatment, I may have a bit of a rough ride, but that's just a price to pay for getting rid of the lymphoma, even temporarily. The next treatment, on Wednesday, is right around the corner.