Catch-Up Time: July 19 Oncology Visit

NOT at all what I was expecting to hear.

Since I was continuing to feel great and still had no symptoms, I anticipated another round of watch-and-wait from Dr. Hampshire.



Oncology wardrobe FAIL:  I'm wearing the same
shirt I wore to my appointment in January.  Geez. 

Wrong.

Seems that one of my iliac lymph nodes had ballooned to the size of a golf ball.  That in itself would have been a worry, but its location is what concerned Dr. Hampshire:  it lies adjacent to my left iliac artery, which could cause a blood clot in my left leg, or left kidney renal problems.

 

My naughty lymph node.

Time for a journey to Rituxanville.

Back in the May 25, 2015 blog entry, I had mentioned doing some research on Rituximab (aka Rituxan), a monoclonal antibody that works with the body's immune system to fight stinky-ass cancer cells.  When Dr. Hampshire advised starting a course of Rituxan, I was relieved that it was something I was familiar with, but immediately wanted to postpone it until October.  Um, WHY???  Because, as a Federal government employee who works with budget, August and September are crucial fiscal year-end closing months for me.  He said that would be fine, but we wouldn't want to delay it any longer than that.  

Great!  Temporarily dodged a bullet!

Wrong again!

Annoying little phrases like "blood clot" and "renal problems" began their relentless swirl around in my brain until I finally snapped out of it and said, "What am I thinking???!!!  Let's get this done NOW!!!"

So, rather than starting in October, we set August 2 as my start date.

A course of Rituxan is given once a week for four weeks; we established Fridays as my infusion days, to allow for recovery over the weekends so I could be back to work on Mondays.  Rituxan is administered through IV over several hours per session, so for four Fridays in August, I'll be planting my butt in a recliner and enjoying my new favorite cocktail.

And what do I think about that misbehaving iliac lymph node?