The Cancer Journey : Home and Well

Reposted from denisetam.webs.com February 7, 2010 Thank you for your prayers and encouragements.  Round #2 was a success (so far) and I am now home and well. I still have three more days of oral chemo to get through but day 1 of round 2 was more like a party than a battle.

After almost a four hour wait, chemo began at 1:20 pm with the antibody drug (Rituxan) given at 50ml/hr and increased by 50ml every half hour.  Last time this drug gave me the worst side effects so I was adamant that they started me off slow this time around.  Finally by 3:25 after ZERO side effects, they increased my dosage by 100ml every half hour and by around 5pm I was finished with IV#1. IV#2 (my blue kool-aid drug) only took one hour and by theend of it I was anxious to be free from all the wires.

During this time my sis, Jason (who spent his birthday in the hospital accompanying me) and I spent our time singing karaoke, conducting a photo shoot which starred Baldwin my little monster, watching TV, reading, dozing in and out of sleep and coming up with captions to a funny photo we cut out from that days SCMP.

Throughout the day I only felt dizziness and nausea after they injected me with anti-allergy drugs and apart from a dry mouth and fatigue, both normal and expected reactions, I was happy, feeling well and had a fairly good appetite.

Before I left the hospital at 7:15pm I sat on my hospital bed and thanked God for guiding me through the second round of chemo.  The night before, I prayed for spiritual protection and strength to get through the following day when the events and outcome were unknown and feared. But He not only protected me spiritually, He also protected me physically and emotionally, beyond what I prayed for.

At the moment I’m easily tired, have a small appetite, feel a bit nauseous and cannot go to the bathroom : ( you know how important that is to me! But on the whole I’m very thankful to be home and feeling well. (My hair is also miraculously falling out in fewer strands!)

The next three days of home-chemo are usually the toughest part of the regiment but I will continue to have faith that He will provide, guide, heal and love just as He has done throughout time.