Health and dis-ease

Part One

My partner has had two rounds of a chemo cocktail and now is on a third chemo treatment with an entirely different drug.  His reactions and side effects have been poles apart.

The first mix is known to us insiders as “RF.”  The trade names for the drugs are Rituxan and Fludara. The Rituxan is a monoclonal antibody.  This means it attacks a specific marker and leaves other normal cells alone.  This chemo mix is an “easy one” according to his oncologists.  And, so it was, broadly speaking.   However, any chemical agents on the warpath the way chemotherapeutic agents behave are going to hurt the patient in some manner.  On his very first day of treatment he had an alarming, but potentially expected drop in blood pressure.   The nurses were forced to stop chemo and give Benadryl.   My partner slept the rest of the day.

Otherwise, after that first knee-jerk reaction to the treatment, he drove himself to chemo on many of the treatment days (although not all).  His first round consisted of infusion lasting about 6 hours for five consecutive days and then he had three weeks off.  He had no nausea, no change in appetite, no change in weight.  He would be tired and faint on the first day.  Also, for first few days his skin color got that purple-brown-gray awful color.   A few years later, he had the same drugs in a second round.  The infusions for this were on Monday,Wednesday, and Friday and then 3 weeks off.  The same non-side effects marked this treatment.

(to be continued)

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