Rituxan & Decadron CLL Treatment Take 1 (again)

As some of you may know, I was in for another round of treatment yesterday to take care of a little flare up of my chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The plan is to knock it back with a handful of single day doses of Rituxan and decadron. These treatments will be spaced a month apart and we will take one treatment at a time to see how the results look. My hunch is we will probably do 3-4 of these.

chemo1I am happy to report that yesterday’s treatment went relatively well. I did have a couple of issues, however. About an hour in, I started to have somewhat of an allergic reaction around my neck. Upon further inspection, we hypothesized that the potential reason for this reaction was a very cool one. The drug being administered, Rituxan has smart bomb characteristics and knows to zero in on inflamed lymphatic organs only. Given the high concentration of enlarged lymph nodes in my neck, it made sense that this reaction was merely the Rituxan kicking the crud out of the enlarged lymph nodes. I thought that was a pretty awesome concept to think about. Even so, we were forced to halt the treatment for a few minutes to give me a chance to normalize (I know – me – “normalize” – funny right?). Once we started back up at a slower drip rate and took a little more Benadryl, I seemed to be OK.

chemo2Later in the afternoon I developed a little nausea but that too subsided after a dose of Compazine. My day ended around 3:30 PM. It was a little long, but not bad. As usual, my favorite nurse Mary Lou was all over my every want and need and took excellent care of me. And of course my wife Mary Grace was with me every step of the way, bringing me coffee, lunch, and Swedish Fish! And thanks too to our daughter Danielle who also visited and brought in some treats, and a Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon. Plenty of love and positive energy also came from our crew in Yuma Arizona, which while they may be across the country, they are always front and center in our hearts.

chemo3Today I am back to work and feel great. Now I need to focus on running and getting ready for the NYC marathon on November 3rd. Then my next treatment will be the following week, November 11th. That November treatment is also one week before the Philadelphia Marathon. I am trying to coordinate these treatments in a way that doesn’t get too much in my way!

More to come. Enjoy the day.

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7 Comments

  1. Posted October 1, 2013 at | Permalink

    Stay strong my friend. Enjoy this great weather

  2. Vigo
    Posted October 1, 2013 at | Permalink

    So GREAT to hear.

    NOW be Happy you are able to share your Journey of HOPE and INSPIRATION with the Cancer World.

    Love The REMAN!

    Live Aloha & Celebrate Your Life
    Vigo,

  3. Gretchen Cooney
    Posted October 1, 2013 at | Permalink

    See you in NYC, you badass! : )

  4. Theresa Snyder
    Posted October 2, 2013 at | Permalink

    Thanks for the post, Steve. You are amazingly strong and are in our prayers. Keep your great attitude.

  5. Marianne Wetling
    Posted October 2, 2013 at | Permalink

    Steve…you are an amazing man! Keep it going…..Mare

  6. Posted October 3, 2013 at | Permalink

    In addition to your family, friends and medical team, please know you have a large network of multi-sport athletes supporting you, You are well-prepared to fight-the-fight and you continue to be an inspiration to many. See you out on the course, my friend.

  7. Tina Hassenstein
    Posted October 3, 2013 at | Permalink

    You are amazing…..an inspiration. See you in New York. God bless….

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