Chemo #2 – Round 2

This chemo treatment went almost like the first one except this time the nurse had trouble finding a good vein. As two different nursed tried digging in my arm trying to find a vein I began to feel faint. They finally found a vein and I didn’t faint. It wasn’t a good feeling. After that experience they had suggested that I install a port in my chest. A few of the patients had this port and they all seem to really like it. I may look into it and see what I need to do to have one. I will let you all know when I do.

Other than that the treatment went well. The Doc finally gave us the results of all the tests that I had done. They are putting me at a Stage IIB. The staging is to determine how far along the cancer has spread. The definition of the stage they gave me is below.

Stage II. In this stage, the cancer is in two different lymph nodes, but is limited to a section of the body either above or below the diaphragm.

The letter B indicates that you may have significant signs and symptoms, such as a persistent fever greater than 100 F with no other known cause, unintended weight loss of more than 10 percent of your body weight or severe night sweats.

To be specific I have a swollen lymph node on the side of my neck and one in the middle of my chest. The letter “B” represents the itching and night sweats I have from time to time. We are very happy with this stage and I believe we had caught this fairly early. It did not spread to any other organ and it did not spread to my bone marrow. All my blood work is fine and my lungs are perfectly normal. We will continue with the planned treatment, which will be every other Thursday twice a month for six months. So, since I already did two treatments that gives me ten more to go and five more months!! Awesome!

When I came home yesterday I felt tired and slept for a couple hours. The best sleep I had in a long time.