My First Cycle

My first cycle of chemotherapy was from March 26 until April 15. Although this was a 21 day cycle, I only actually received chemotherapy on the first 3 days.

What was done to me...
On day #1, prior to starting my chemotherapy, I was seen by Interventional Radiology who placed a Hickman catheter in the right side of my chest. This provides secure venous access to give chemotherapy and take blood for testing (and saves me from getting stuck for blood draws and IVs!). After this was placed, I was admitted to the oncology center; my chemotherapy started around 10:00 at night.

On my odd numbered cycles, I receive vincristine, cytoxan, and adriamycin. The vincristine was a simple IV push (only takes a few seconds), the cytoxan went in over 1 hour, and the adriamycin was a 48 hour infusion (the 2 day adriamycin infusion is why I had to stay in the hospital for my treatment). In addition to this chemotherapy, I also received anzemet and prednisone to reduce nausea plus mesna and LOTS of intravenous fluids to flush the chemotherapy out of my bladder.

...and how it made me feel
This was not terribly difficult; I never vomitted and was nauseous on few occasions. The most noticable side effect was fatigue. During my hospitalization, I wasn't sleeping very well (frequently woken up for vital signs, infusions, and trips to the bathroom due to all those fluids). The fatigue was a bit worse once I returned home (days #4-9). However, with a nap in the afternoon, I was able to work 1/2 to 3/4 days.

Once day #10 arrived, I felt terrific and was back at work full time. However, over the next few days, my immune system was suppressed. This doesn't cause any noticeable symptoms for me, but if I develop an infection (in particular, a bacterial infection) I could become quite sick and would need to be admitted to the hospital. So, I have to take extra care during this time (including wearing a mask if I'm in large gatherings, extra hand washing, etc.). However, I certainly can have visitors (assuming they're not obviously sick) and go to work during this period. As I get further into my treatment, my blood count suppression will be more severe and last longer, which will cause some increased fatigue and infection risk. However, we're doing great so far and plan to keep it that way!
Robert