And so it starts

First day of chemo on Tuesday. It all progressed very quickly since my appt last Friday (compared to the rest of the process). I was told the first treatment might not be too bad. So far so good. I was really tired when I got home on Tuesday and napped on the couch. It all started at 8am on Tuesday with the bone marrow biopsy....what fun. Apparently my bone marrow "liquid" was not co-operative after my Dr tried 3 times to get some. She let it go because she got a good marrow core sample anyways. Had the talk with the pharmacist about all the possible side effects of the many drugs. 4 chemo drugs (A.B.V.D), 2 prescription that I took 1st thing that day (1 for nausea and allopurinol to help flush dead cells out to prevent gout) and then I found out that I would get another 3 in an IV just prior to the chemo drugs (benadryl, hydrocortisone and another anti-nausea drug)....that a total of 9 new toxic substances in my system on Tuesday!
So the plan right now is 6 cycles of ABVD, that is equal to about 6 months of chemo. Every other Tuesday will be my chemo day. Yesterday I had a MUGA test (heart function)...for a before picture as one of the chemo drugs is hard on your heart. Next Thursday I am scheduled to have a porta-cath put in so they don't have to inject into an arm vein each time. I see the oncologist again next Friday to check in before the next chemo day and see what sort of side effects I have had. She will also have a better idea of my staging we hope and have the results of the bone marrow biopsy. The Dr thinks I am likely somewhere between a II and III but the CTscan wasn't clear and she wanted to consult further with the radiologist. Some nodes around my back may have been involved?

Yesterday (day 2) I was suprised how good I felt. I actually walked a bit much (walked Saffy in park, walked home from hospital and then over to the office and Shopper's) and was pretty wiped by late in the afternoon. I felt a bit crappy when I woke up this morning (day 3) but not so bad now. Vikki the pharmacist said that day 3 and 4 are sometimes the worst for people. We'll see.