Yabut he's back

You have never seen a happier man. Well, maybe on those occasions when he has caught a particularly large bluefish.

Dr. Sawhney's exact words were: "We can get rid of the whole lymphoma. This is the kind of lymphoma that won't come back."

She said it may or may not have originated from the neck lymphoma, but even if it did, it is a different kind of lymphoma. The one he had in his neck could possibly recur. This one almost certainly won't.

By the way, the doctor for his neck was also almost certain that it wouldn't recur because he was so successful with the surgery and then the subsequent radiation therapy was like "belts and suspenders."

The treatment will be as follows:
Every three weeks, he will go in to her facility for a two-day treatment. On day one, he will get an IV with chemo. That will take 4 to 6 hours the first time. (Probably tomorrow will be his first time.) After the first, each IV procedure takes about 2 to 2.5 hours. And then on day 2, he goes in for a shot.

This cycle will repeat every three weeks, six times. That means the entire treatment will last 18 weeks.

After the 2nd treatment, they will scan him to see how the drugs are affecting the lymphoma. If there is progress, great. If not, they change the formula. But in any case, even if there is progress, he will continue for the whole 6 treatments.

On the tenth day, after each treatment, he will feel at his lowest. This is also when he will be the most prone to infection because his immune system will be at its lowest. If he gets an infection, he needs to tell them.

He can expect to loose his hair after the 2nd treatment.

They have drugs to counteract the nausea. He shouldn't feel very nauseous. If he does, they can try other drugs. He should never, ever have to vomit.

He might feel some numbness in his fingers, but if he finds that he can't do things, then he should tell her and she will adjust that.

The doctor's office job is to help reduce all the symptoms of the treatment, she said. He was encouraged to call anytime. But most people never need any help.

The best news for Harold was when he asked whether he could play golf. Dr Sawhney (pronounced: sa-HA-ney) said:

Not only is it okay. She wants him to play. She said that the people who respond the best to the treatment are the people who play golf and who are the most active. The people who respond the worst are people who are inactive. Being active helps build the immune system, she said.

For those who are interested, I will be scanning the prescription and emailing it. But the ingrediants are:
Rituximab 375mg;
Doxorubicin (adriamycin) 50 mg;
Vincristine 1.4mg
Cyclophosphamide 750 mg

and the next day shot is:
pegfilgrastim 6mg

He will also be taking predisone (cortisone) for five days only at the beginning of each treatment.

Dad is high as kite.

It's true what they say: You can't kill weeds.

Being a Sunday child helps.