Round 1 *ding ding*

Today is my first day of treatment. I'm nervous as anything because I'm not sure how my body will react to it. I keep getting a little teary and I honestly can't tell you why. I know that this is the first step in getting my body healthy and that's exactly what I want, but I can't help but feel a bit apprehensive. And get this: it's the  fourth day of the New Year, my first doctor visit of the New Year, and I've already met my insurance deductible. Crazy expensive!

Before I started my treatment, I met with Dr. Choksi. She reconfirmed my diagnosis of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and outlined my treatment plan (6-8 rounds of chemotherapy, every 3 weeks). She also discussed safety around Chase and general safety rules. It's really not as bad as I thought it would be. She repeated a few times that it is very possibly curable, but suggested a possible bone marrow transplant after treatment is over since I’m so young. Let's get through this before we start worrying about that, though!

When I finished with Dr. Choksi, she brought me back to the infusion room. I sat in a surprisingly comfortable recliner while the nurse accessed my port. 

She drew blood from it, flushed it, then started my treatment:

• Aloxi to prevent nausea and vomiting
• Dexamethasone, a steroid that fights adverse reactions
• Benadryl and Tylenol to prevent allergic reactions
• Adriamycin, the "big guns" of chemotherapy and bright red
• Cytoxan, a chemotherapy that inhibits DNA synthesis
• Vincristine Sulfate, a chemotherapy that blocks tumor synthesis
• Rituxan, a protein that interferes with cancer cell growth

The Rituxan is normally a 4 hour drip, but they give it even slower the first time to make sure that there are no reactions to it. At one point, they had to stop the drip for a few minutes because my heart rate had increased. It was back to normal in less than 5 minutes and I was able to continue the infusion. Since it was given so slowly, it was not finished, so I'll go back again tomorrow morning for the rest of it. They removed the needle for the night and will re-access my port in the morning.

I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered. A little tired, a bit of a headache, but really feel the way I normally do when I sit around all day! I can only hope that I can keep feeling this way!