Hi, @valandsheri. Who’s more nervous, you or your husband? ☺️ It’s so normal to feel this way before beginning a new treatment. Especially when you’re just entering that odyssey of chemo and cancer. That always conjures up the worst of our fears. Most of the time, they’re unfounded.
We get through one day at a time, the chemo does it job for us and then, if the meds do what they’re supposed to do, we go on about our lives with a new appreciation for what we’ve endured and how brave we are.
Having had serious blood cancer myself, I can vouch for the advantage going into treatment healthy and hearty. It does make a huge difference.
However, he will have some side effects. That’s inevitable. I think you mentioned in another post that he’ll be taking Bendamustine and Rituxan. The Bendamustine may leave him feeling some nausea or fatigue. His white blood count may drop. The Rituxan is an immunosuppressant so both of those meds will impact his immune system, making him more vulnerable to infection, colds, etc., It will be important to be mindful about exposure to Covid, flu or fungal infections (no gardening for a while).
The nurses in the infusion center will take great care of him tomorrow. With his first infusion they will go slowly. If there is a reaction to Rituxan, it is usual in the first infusion and rather common. The nurses will give him meds beforehand to lessen the reaction or have it standing by in case he needs it. Usually if that happens, slowing the drip rate is all that’s necessary.
Have him take a bag with snacks, something to occupy his time like crossword puzzle, ipad, etc. They can take up to a couple hours.
You’re both going to get through this. ☺️ I think the caregiver roll is worse than that of the patient sometimes. I watched my husband age while I underwent all of my excitement. He bore the brunt of all of it while I just sat and let my doctors make the decisions. But here we are on the back side of treatment, 4 years later and it’s as though nothing happened. With his treatments, we’ll hope the same for you and your husband.
Let me know how he does tomorrow! And you…☺️
Oh Lori, thank you for your precious words. Courage appears, sometimes, from unknown sources, and you just helped me "strap my courage back on". I am grateful that you are here. It is definitely me that is more nervous. He is such a warrior and has a great outlook. He is a little worried about side effects - as he says "he just doesn't want to feel like crap". I worry about all of the other things and in my panic annoy him with "wash your hands" "don't touch your face" "keep your distance"....my hair is turning a lovely shade of grey and treatment hasn't begun. On a funny note - over the weekend we were out riding our UTV in the desert and I was driving and he was giving me confusing directions and I asked him to either say turn right or turn left, not to say "go straight" when there was a turn option. Out of the blue he said "I don't have to I'm in treatment". He had me laughing so hard that I had to pull over for a moment. I told him that he still had to give proper directions even in treatment! Thanks for letting me share that silly moment - I cherish them.
Thank you again, and I will let you know how tomorrow goes. Bendstamine on Wednesday and Rituxan on Thursday. We are so grateful to be receiving his care at The Mayo Clinic.