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Thursday, September 09, 2010

6:th treatment of chemotherapy

Today I had my 6:th treatment of chemotherapy. Ida A and my mom came with me. I feel ok now, just a bit tired plus I have a bad headache.
Here is some more information about my cancer and the treatment that I am getting.

My form of Hodgkins Lymphoma is called:
Nodular sclerosis (or "NSHL") is a form of Hodgkin's lymphoma that is the most common subtype of HL in developed countries. It usually affects females more than males and has a median age of onset at ~28 years. It is composed of large tumor nodules with lacunar Reed-Sternberg cell (RS cells) surrounded by fibrotic collagen bands.
The British National Lymphoma Investigation further categorized NSHL based upon Reed-Sternberg cells into "nodular sclerosis type I" (NS I) and "nodular sclerosis type II" (NS II), with the first subtype responding better to treatment.
I have type NSII.

ABVD is a chemotherapy regimen used in the first-line treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma. It consists of concurrent treatment with the chemotherapy drugs Adriamycin (doxorubicin), bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine. This is the one I am recieving.
One cycle of ABVD chemotherapy is typically given over 4 weeks, with two doses in each cycle (on day 1 and day 15). All four of the chemotherapy drugs are given intravenously. ABVD chemotherapy is usually given in the outpatient setting — that is, it does not require hospitalization. I will get 4 cycles which means 8 treatment. So I have 2 left now.
When I am at the hospital it normally takes about 3 hours to get the treatment and after that I get to go home. I feel the side effects mostley up to 8 days after the treatment. I am tired, my body hurts, I feel sick and dizzy, I get stomage ache and I have a terrible taste in my mouth (ALL the time). After about 8 days I feel almost as normal. I do not really fancy going out for a run (not that it would be a priority nr 1 anyway...), but at least I can go for longer walks and be active for at least half a day.
Because I am sensitive to infections I have to think about things like: I cannot see my friends if they are sick or have the flu. For example, I was going to see Ida the other day, but she was sick. I was supposed to have seen my dad today, but he had the flu...I also have to be careful when I am in supermarkets etc, or when I handle money. One thing that I in my handbag is antiseptic handwash fluids that I use regulary.
I got tp speak to a doctor today and I got more information about the radiotherapy that W will get i november. I will write another post about that later.

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