Rituximab First Day

COBRA666
COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
I spent 6 hrs at the cancer center today getting my Retuximab. They put it in really slow to see how I would react to it. The last hr they turned it up to drip faster. I had no problems except my sinuses started to feel like they were filling up, but it went away in a few minutes. I go back tomorrow for the CVP part. I was supposed to get chop, but they decided it would be better to go with the R-cvp since one of the drugs can damage the heart muscle and it is not reversible. I will let you know how that goes.

Comments

  • vinny59
    vinny59 Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #2
    good luck
    Good Luck again tomorrow, I get my port tomorrow and start R-CHOP wednesday.......
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #3
    vinny59 said:

    good luck
    Good Luck again tomorrow, I get my port tomorrow and start R-CHOP wednesday.......

    GOOD LUCK
    Vinny, did you have your muga scan yet? They changed me to R-CVP from R-CHOP because my heart was to close to the normal/abnormal point. They said my heart was fine, but not want to risk any damage. If it would damage the valves it would be non reverseable. John
  • vinny59
    vinny59 Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #4
    COBRA666 said:

    GOOD LUCK
    Vinny, did you have your muga scan yet? They changed me to R-CVP from R-CHOP because my heart was to close to the normal/abnormal point. They said my heart was fine, but not want to risk any damage. If it would damage the valves it would be non reverseable. John

    Muga Scan
    Hey John, I had my Muga scan last week, she did not call me with results yet, I guess no news is good news, I go to her on Wednesday for my first treatment, I will let you know what happens.. Vinny
  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #5
    vinny59 said:

    Muga Scan
    Hey John, I had my Muga scan last week, she did not call me with results yet, I guess no news is good news, I go to her on Wednesday for my first treatment, I will let you know what happens.. Vinny

    I have never heard of the
    I have never heard of the term Muga scan. Is that the same as an echo cardiogram? I had that prior to starting the R CHOP and was good to go
  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #6
    Good news John! Glad that
    Good news John! Glad that first day is over for you. Good luck tomorrow. mary
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #7
    merrywinner said:

    I have never heard of the
    I have never heard of the term Muga scan. Is that the same as an echo cardiogram? I had that prior to starting the R CHOP and was good to go

    MUGS SCAN
    Mary, the echo shows the function of the valves like a sonagram. The muga scan shows the strength of the contraction.They remove blood and add a radio active material, then put the same blood back in. They are allowed to take pictures of the radio active cells as they are pushed thru your heart. This is all put on a computer and it tells the strenght of your heart chambers. I believe it is fairly new and more accurate than the echo. One of the drugs(adriamycin) used in R-CHOP has the potential to do irreverseable damage to the heart muscle. You have to have 50% strength in order to get that drug. Mine was above 50%, but the onc. did not want to give me the drug and chance any damage. Therefore I will be getting R-cvp. John
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #8
    rituximab
    Got my first rituximab yesterday. Temperature did go as high as 100 and had joint stiffness last night. Felt pain in the kidney area and could not pee for about 6 hours. After that point it got better and I was back to my old self again. The nurse said the kidney problem was probably due to the R filtering thru the kidneys and causing a reaction. This is normal she said.
    Today I got my first chemo,CVP and tolerated it well. No problems or reactions yet. I got the standard anti nausea drugs to help with that. Hoping for the best. I don't know if I should bring this up at this time or not, but when I am getting my treatments I sit in a chemo lounge with other people getting their chemo. I have only been there twice, but I do talk to the other people and so far 2 had colon cancer and 3 with lung cancer. When i hear their stories it makes me feel grateful that if I have to have cancer it is the lymphoma type. I had go to the local pharmacy to pick up my predisone and other meds and the pharmacist told me she has heard they have come the fartherest in the research of lymphoma in the past few years than any other cancer. She said they are closing in on it pretty quick. I just wish they could close in on all cancers the same way. I know they are closing in on breast cancer and that is promising news.
  • dixiegirl
    dixiegirl Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #9
    COBRA666 said:

    rituximab
    Got my first rituximab yesterday. Temperature did go as high as 100 and had joint stiffness last night. Felt pain in the kidney area and could not pee for about 6 hours. After that point it got better and I was back to my old self again. The nurse said the kidney problem was probably due to the R filtering thru the kidneys and causing a reaction. This is normal she said.
    Today I got my first chemo,CVP and tolerated it well. No problems or reactions yet. I got the standard anti nausea drugs to help with that. Hoping for the best. I don't know if I should bring this up at this time or not, but when I am getting my treatments I sit in a chemo lounge with other people getting their chemo. I have only been there twice, but I do talk to the other people and so far 2 had colon cancer and 3 with lung cancer. When i hear their stories it makes me feel grateful that if I have to have cancer it is the lymphoma type. I had go to the local pharmacy to pick up my predisone and other meds and the pharmacist told me she has heard they have come the fartherest in the research of lymphoma in the past few years than any other cancer. She said they are closing in on it pretty quick. I just wish they could close in on all cancers the same way. I know they are closing in on breast cancer and that is promising news.

    Congratulations...one down
    Congratulations John......one down. See, it wasn't as bad as you thought I hope!!

    I didn't have any side effects from chemo for a few days and hopefully you won't either. Stay on top of the nausea meds they give you for at least 3 days after treatment. Drink lots of water to help flush it out of your system. You don't want to let nausea happen as it's very hard to stop once it gets out of control...prevention is the key.

    Another suggestion. Take Senakot or some type of stool softener for a few days too, prevent the problem if you can, as this was an extremely debilitating problem for me. Hopefully you'll be able to sleep. I don't know what milligram prednisone you're on. I did 100 mg for 3 days, then dropped by 20 every day till done on day 7.

    I lined up lots of movies and food for the all nighters. If you are a coffee drinker, stop the coffee about 8 am or you'll likely never sleep, at least until the dosage drops.

    Like I said congratulations!!! One LESS ahead of you.


    Take care,

    Beth
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #10
    dixiegirl said:

    Congratulations...one down
    Congratulations John......one down. See, it wasn't as bad as you thought I hope!!

    I didn't have any side effects from chemo for a few days and hopefully you won't either. Stay on top of the nausea meds they give you for at least 3 days after treatment. Drink lots of water to help flush it out of your system. You don't want to let nausea happen as it's very hard to stop once it gets out of control...prevention is the key.

    Another suggestion. Take Senakot or some type of stool softener for a few days too, prevent the problem if you can, as this was an extremely debilitating problem for me. Hopefully you'll be able to sleep. I don't know what milligram prednisone you're on. I did 100 mg for 3 days, then dropped by 20 every day till done on day 7.

    I lined up lots of movies and food for the all nighters. If you are a coffee drinker, stop the coffee about 8 am or you'll likely never sleep, at least until the dosage drops.

    Like I said congratulations!!! One LESS ahead of you.


    Take care,

    Beth

    They have me on predisone
    They have me on predisone 100mg for 5 days. zolfran 8mg twice a day for the nausea.
  • dixiegirl
    dixiegirl Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #11
    COBRA666 said:

    They have me on predisone
    They have me on predisone 100mg for 5 days. zolfran 8mg twice a day for the nausea.

    Zofran
    They gave me both zofran and compazine. The zofran was great and worked the best for me. The prednisone is hard and I ate everything not tied down! I almost was ready to put a lock on the fridge. Fresh peaches from the local cider mill was my downfall. I think I was going there about every other day for more!

    Take care and good luck to you!

    Beth
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #12
    COBRA666 said:

    rituximab
    Got my first rituximab yesterday. Temperature did go as high as 100 and had joint stiffness last night. Felt pain in the kidney area and could not pee for about 6 hours. After that point it got better and I was back to my old self again. The nurse said the kidney problem was probably due to the R filtering thru the kidneys and causing a reaction. This is normal she said.
    Today I got my first chemo,CVP and tolerated it well. No problems or reactions yet. I got the standard anti nausea drugs to help with that. Hoping for the best. I don't know if I should bring this up at this time or not, but when I am getting my treatments I sit in a chemo lounge with other people getting their chemo. I have only been there twice, but I do talk to the other people and so far 2 had colon cancer and 3 with lung cancer. When i hear their stories it makes me feel grateful that if I have to have cancer it is the lymphoma type. I had go to the local pharmacy to pick up my predisone and other meds and the pharmacist told me she has heard they have come the fartherest in the research of lymphoma in the past few years than any other cancer. She said they are closing in on it pretty quick. I just wish they could close in on all cancers the same way. I know they are closing in on breast cancer and that is promising news.

    R-CVP PROGRESS
    Started R-CVP this past Monday and today is Friday. Really starting to feel the drag on the body now. The first couple of days I would get tired later in the day, but now I feel dragged out when I get up. I am assuming thats the way it is gonna be after each treatment. I can honestly say I do feel a shrinkage in the abdominal tumors. I check them every morning and know where each bump is located. They used to be lumpy and bulky feeling. Now, they are still hard , but flatter.
  • yesyes2
    yesyes2 Member Posts: 591
    #13
    COBRA666 said:

    R-CVP PROGRESS
    Started R-CVP this past Monday and today is Friday. Really starting to feel the drag on the body now. The first couple of days I would get tired later in the day, but now I feel dragged out when I get up. I am assuming thats the way it is gonna be after each treatment. I can honestly say I do feel a shrinkage in the abdominal tumors. I check them every morning and know where each bump is located. They used to be lumpy and bulky feeling. Now, they are still hard , but flatter.

    Progress
    John, Glad that treatment is moving along and your nodes are already getting smaller. And yes you do really begin to feel the drag on the body as the cycles go on. Chemo is cumulative but doable. Good thoughts to you. Leslie
  • dixiegirl
    dixiegirl Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #14
    yesyes2 said:

    Progress
    John, Glad that treatment is moving along and your nodes are already getting smaller. And yes you do really begin to feel the drag on the body as the cycles go on. Chemo is cumulative but doable. Good thoughts to you. Leslie

    Progress
    John,

    I know you are getting tired, it's ok it WILL get better later next week. And you are right, it is cumulative. Towards the end of my chemo if I wanted something at the other end of the house, I had to REALLY want it to go get it. And alot of the time? I decided I didn't really need it that bad.

    Just rest, take it easy and do what you can. If you crash from the prednisone tomorrow, ask your onc if you can taper down the prednisone next round. You still get the same dosage, just not so hard on you to finish it.

    Have you by any chance had any jaw pain? My onc told me that mainly kids have that....but I was a 42 year old kid.

    Take care,

    Beth
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #15
    dixiegirl said:

    Progress
    John,

    I know you are getting tired, it's ok it WILL get better later next week. And you are right, it is cumulative. Towards the end of my chemo if I wanted something at the other end of the house, I had to REALLY want it to go get it. And alot of the time? I decided I didn't really need it that bad.

    Just rest, take it easy and do what you can. If you crash from the prednisone tomorrow, ask your onc if you can taper down the prednisone next round. You still get the same dosage, just not so hard on you to finish it.

    Have you by any chance had any jaw pain? My onc told me that mainly kids have that....but I was a 42 year old kid.

    Take care,

    Beth

    JAW PAIN
    Beth, to be honest with you I don't know if its jaw pain or teeth. It is in the hinge of my jaw that I feel the discomfort. It does not really hurt, but is uncomfortable. John
  • dixiegirl
    dixiegirl Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #16
    COBRA666 said:

    JAW PAIN
    Beth, to be honest with you I don't know if its jaw pain or teeth. It is in the hinge of my jaw that I feel the discomfort. It does not really hurt, but is uncomfortable. John

    That's it
    Well John, welcome to the second childhood. It is the beginning of it. It lasts for a few days and will get worse before it gets better. Take very tiny bites often seemed to help me. The longer I waited to eat and drink the worse it got. Seems like keeping my mouth limber did help.

    I did cut my stuff very tiny though because it hurt to open my mouth very far. Yawning was enough to bring tears to my eyes before it got better.

    Take care
    Beth

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