low-grade non-Hodgkins

Hey i haven't known anyone to get Rituxan..I have been clean for 16 years with follicular non-hodgkins lymphoma..Mine is the small and medium cells... I just got Bexxar Friday and feel tried but not sick..Thank you God..I went through chemo 16 years ago with chop and it was terrible..You have to have less than 25% in your bone marrow to get this..I hope it work's and if so i will pass the word on to other's..Hope your bone pain get's better..

Randy in FLorida
I've had Rituxin several times and never got bone pain from it, but everyone is different. I do have a bad reaction to Rituxin, so they have to put me in the hospital every time for chemo because they have to run the Rituxin very slowly into my system otherwise I get severe pain all over, chills, headache. Once they get that settled down with medication, I'm okay. I've had NHL for 8 years.

Phil F said:

Jeri, in Florida
Hi, I'm using my husband's site, I had NHL stage IV in May 2005, I recieved CVP and Retuxin, four treatments and I was in remission. I still had Retuxin every 6 mos for two years. January 2009 my cancer came back. The onco said I could do another round of chemo or try Bexxar or Zevelin treatment. I researched both and decided Zevelin was better for me. I had it March 12th 2009. I never had any trouble with it at all until 4 weeks later when my blood counts dropped dangerously low, which is expected after the drug. I had 20 Nupigen shots, 3 red blood cell shots (can't remember the name), and 5 blood transfusions. My counts started coming back up, and I was doing good. It's now July and my counts started dropping again, has anyone else experienced this? I've decided against shots and transfusions. I am hoping my body will start working again and correct this problem. I have a blood test every two weeks to monitor this. I really don't have pain except in my back when I do too much. I feel very fortunate that I am doing so well. Any comments would be appreciated. Jeri

pain in back
Hi Jeri, I'm new to this site just today. I've been reading posts and have realized that there seems to be a common thread with the treatments we've been getting. I too have "reallllly" bad back pain and have been diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, arthritis, bulging disks, and something else(can't remember at moment..lol) Of course all this didn't appear until after I received 7 months of "CHOP" treatments, and then after it did appear, I've received 12 doses of radiation and over 2 yrs worth of rituxan treatments. It's just unfortunate that we as survivors of cancer have to endure such pain after receiving treatments that are meant to make us well. As to your ? about your Zevelin treatments, I can't offer any assistance there other then to say good luck with your treatments and I hope all goes well and your blood counts return to normal. I know it's not comforting to know your blood counts are dangerously low resulting in stays in the hospital. It's scary enough having cancer alone, let alone all the uncertainties that follow, plus the things you find out after you've had your treatment that the doctors failed to tell you in the beginning. Like I just found out on my last onco visit that them "CHOP" drugs can and have been known to cause Luekemia later on in life. I did not know that and don't know if knowing it would have altered the course of my treatments. But I'm the kind of person that would like to know these things up front so I can make informed decisions, not partial ones. This might be something that us that are having pain in our bones keep a close on eye and report our symptoms to our doctors promptly. Good luck Jeri with your recovery and may god bless you. Karla