Treatment starts tomorrow. Here’s what’s going through my head.

 

I think everything will be fine.  That I’ll be able to tolerate the new treatments as well as I did last time.  I’m a little concerned about the effects of the Cytoxin, which is the new element in the mix.  In preparation for the treatment, I was given 3 prescriptions for anti-nausea meds.  I’m hoping I won’t need them.  I didn’t last time and I seem to have a pretty strong stomach as evidenced by the fact that watching Justin Bieber at the Grammies last night didn’t make me nauseous (cheap shot…actually I have nothing against the Biebs). 

 

So, here’s how it will work.  I’ll check in at the infusion center at 2:30.  They will hook me up to an IV and begin with the Velcade infusion.  That should take about 45 minutes.  Then I switch over to a bag of Cytoxin, which I’m told is a bit slower…maybe an hour.  The Cytoxin will be mixed with some anti-nausea meds.    I’ll be armed with my iPhone and a Kindle to pass the time.  Then, I go home and hope for the best – which means that nausea, fatigue, and gastrointestinal problems will be minimal or absent.

I do recall that when I first got Velcade four years ago, there was one weekend early on when I felt really crappy….like I had the flu.  I actually thought I did have the flu and went to the doctor, only to find that it was just the Velcade.  I expect I will encounter a few days like that again, but if that’s all I have to deal with, I’m happy.

 

I’ll also be increasing my steroid intake.  I’ll be taking steroids 4x/week, which is 4xs the amount of steroids I’m currently taking.  That won’t be fun, but, again, I’ve been there before, so I think it will be just fine.

 

I’ll let you know what happens.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!