I met with the new oncologist on Thursday 11/29. Unfortunately, the PET scan identified several new sites where there are affected lymph nodes besides the three areas we knew about. There are now affected areas near my left collarbone and right upper back as well as a few in my lungs but all the new areas are very small so we feel we’ve caught it early.
The current plan is to do six rounds of chemo (RCHOP) plus two-three rounds of Methotrexate which is a special drug. The chemo is given every three weeks via IV as an outpatient procedure at the treatment center. The first dose will take about 8 hours to administer but subsequent doses will take around 3-4 hours to administer. The Methotrexate has to be given inpatient during a 2-3 day hospital stay each time.
Here’s what we have scheduled so far:
- December 3rd: Meet with an orthopedic surgeon to determine what care I’ll need for my L4 vertebrae. The cancer is wrapped around the bone and once the cancer cells are destroyed, there may not be enough support for the spine so we’ll have to figure that out.
- December 6th: Meet with a cardiologist and have an echo/ultrasound done of my heart. The chemo and Methotrexate can cause major heart damage so they want to get a good baseline and monitor closely.
- December 11th: Outpatient procedure to install a port-a-cath in my chest. The device will be right under my skin with a catheter leading into a major heart vein.
- December 13th: I’ll start my first chemo session at 7:15 AM. This first one can take around 8 hours as they administer the dosage slowly in case there is any adverse effects.
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