A quick update before Week Six of half-dose Rituxan will begin tomorrow and complete on Thursday .....
I still am coughing and have some sinus congestion - I am taking Cipro and antifungal, so we are waiting to see if we need to desensitize to add another anti-something. I was just above neutropenic level, so will not receive Neupogen until Wednesday and Thursday.
I have continued to have ongoing nausea from the treatment. My Mom thought of my using Seabands to lessen the nausea. (These are wristbands that people wear when on ships to prevent sea sickness-they apply pressure on an acupuncture point that my doctor uses to treat nausea.) They are working and the nausea has decreased without having to add more chemicals (prescription anti-nausea medicaitons) to my over-loaded body.
My total WBC yesterday was 29,300. It was 167,800 when I began this protocol. This means my ALC (absolute lymphocyte count) has gone from 166,122 to 27,542 - over an 83percent decline. Cancerous lymphocytes are what we are trying to annihilate.
My platelets almost were identical to last week -- still low yet high enough to keep me at stage 2 as well as hemoglobin (which dropped a bit) but still good enough to keep me at stage 2.
I cancelled my doctor's appointment today as I am just worn out and wanted a day at home. However, based on my estimations, my lymph nodes and spleen have decreased in size from last week.
Please pray for me as I receive treatment this week.
PS - We received the EOB from insurance today - the first week of half-dose Rituxan cost over $20,000. Imagine the eight week total cost! My insurance lifetime maximum benefit is quickly eroding. Such is the risk when one lives a long life with cancer.
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