Schedule 2 or is it cycle 2? Second Chemo and Christmas.

Hi folks, update time, I hope you are sitting comfortably.

I've just finished the second schedule of chemo and was fortunate enough to be allowed out of hospital on Christmas Eve.  Now, is this the second schedule / round or the second cycle?  Well I'm going to call it schedule B, of Cycle 1.  I will be receiving four cycles of this treatment.

What on earth are you on about I hear you saying!!  Let me clarify, the Hyper-CVAD consists of two schedules (or rounds) of chemo per Cycle of Hyper-CVAD.  Schedules A & B are totally different regimens,  doing different parts of the required task to rid me of Lymphoma.  So my first Chemo was Schedule A, and I have just completed Schedule B, thus apart from the rest / recovery phase, Cycle 1 is now complete.

This site is a good explanation for those who like to know what the in's and out's are for Hyper-CVAD!  You don't need to read this to follow the blog - so do not feel obliged! and remember what I have said about internet resources!!!
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertreatment/Treatmenttypes/Chemotherapy/Combinationregimen/Hyper-CVAD.aspx

I started off in the day Oncology unit last Tuesday 20th.  I received the first treatment there which was not part of H-C, but is the additional treatment Rituximab (Mabthera®).
This drug can give patients the shakes & bad reactions on the first occasion taken, hence the visit to day Oncology where you basically have a one-to-one Nurse / Patient relationship whilst receiving this therapy.  Following this I moved up to the ward and 3 days of H-C.

The treatment themselves were fine, the main issues are lack of sleep, due to regular toilet visits, some nausea which is sorted by the Nursing staff and some 'shakes'.  Anyway Christmas Eve came along & they let me home for the holiday period.  I don't think the bottle of Shiraz influenced Tony's decision at all.
Christmas day was at home - actually our first Christmas ever in our own home in Australia.  A lovely relaxing day, with our traditional Salmon and eggs brekky, followed by a great lunch out on the deck.

The observant amongst you will note that due to a dearth of hair, my hat fits!!!! and Kyle is wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt!!!

The rest of the holiday period was spent relaxing, eating Turkey and ham, and just being around with the family.
Today is 28th December - I'm typing this in the day Oncology unit.  I've come in for a blood count and to see how Hairy is holding up.  The outcome of this is that I am Neutropenic ie. my blood count is very low - Neutrophil's 0.11 (should be >1.5 to be out and about), Whitecount generally low, Platelets are low and I have a significant rash.  I actually had the rash on Christmas eve and was allowed home, for me practically the rash is not an issue to live with.  However with the Neutropenia (risk of infection) and that it has spread over my body, there is some element of concern.
Because of this I'm going to be admitted for a few days.  Better safe than sorry.

In a few days hopefully my blood count will have recovered a bit & they will let me out in time for my birthday (albeit at home) on 31st.  Before that, we have Kathryn's 21st on the 29th.  Our little baby is all grown up!!! (sorry for that KT!)

Have a great holiday period for those still off work, and have a relaxing few days for those who have to earn a crust!!
Catch you all later.

Alan

Seconds out, Round one!

Ladies and Gentleman if you can please take your seats, the
least-anticipated fight of the year has just begun. In the red corner we have
Larry the lumpy lymphoma. In the lime-green corner we have Baxter & Alan –
the tag team. The crowd goes wild when they see Baxter & Alan, its obvious
who the favourites are in this battle! Ding ding ding!! The battle has begun. There
is not much movement from Larry; he’s already delivered one big fat blow to the
head in the last battle. Now he’s out of moves, but the tag team has stepped up
to the machine. Baxter is feeding into Alan trying to get Larry to forfeit his
fight against him. Only time will tell to see who will come out on top.

Did you catch all of that? I would assume a bit of explaining is in
order, unless you’ve visited Greenslopes in the last 24 hours! First off, why
lime green? In Australia the lime green ribbon is the colour for Lymphoma, naturally the colour suits us well.
Secondly, we’d like to introduce to you Baxter. We haven’t quite worked
out if Baxter is our friend or not. Baxter is the machine feeding the chemo
into Dads body – friend or foe? In the near future we think foe, but at the end
of the day, he is just trying to be our friend! :)

Baxter

FINALLY FOR SOME NEWS! Thank you for following the blog thus far, the
update you have been waiting for has finally arrived. There are two main grades
of Lymphoma – high grade and low grade. Due to true Mellon form – we don’t
follow the crowd, so naturally, Dad has middle grade Lymphoma. With the low
grade cancer the chemo treatment would have been more of a social time for Dad,
coming into hospital for the day, getting the chemo and being discharged at
night.
Unfortunately with the mid range the chemo is slightly more vigorous,
meaning that the chemo will be being fed in over a number of days. The repercussion
of the chemo is that dad’s immune system will be almost abolished. So for at
least the next couple of weeks 31-14 will be his new home. He will be closely monitored
to ensure that he will not be picking up any diseases or infections etc.

Delightful Donna in her Daffy Duck outfit with the first Chemo and Lei Lei to her right.

The hardest part of it all of course is that if Dad is to come home our
house will have to be spotless – the hardest challenge we have faced yet! (Just
kidding Mum) Thanks for all your support so far, I’m sure you will be hearing
from us soon!
Hayley & Kyle :)