Diagnoses & Options
December 2015, I was having a lot of back pain and it was a familiar pain. I ignored it until it was too painful to ignore. I had a blood test and my XXXX was over the moon. I earned myself a CT Scan and a bone biopsy. It was exactly what I had suspected, Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in the bones. Because it was a relapse, my first option was "Stem Cell Transplant".
Round 1
Before they could harvest my Stem Cell, I had to undergo a few rounds of chemotherapy. I made the decision to have a PORT inserted into my upper right chest because I found PICC extremely difficult to maintain.
I decided to take on RDROP and I was once again admitted for continuous chemo infusion, at 4 days every 21 days. RDROP regiment was very harsh and I was vomiting every time I tried to get up for the bathroom. By the 4th day, I had started to lose consciousness because I had depleted my sodium. I lost a day and I was given large dose of sodium tablets to replenish my sodium. I ended up spending 6 days at my 1st round of RDROP. My learning, if you vomit a lot, remember to check your sodium level!
Round 2
I was vomiting a lot when I was recuperating at home. It had started to wear me down and I was tired a lot. I didn't have an appetite to eat and I had a hard time keeping my meals down. All I could do was to stay away from germs and kept my fluid intake. When I was admitted for my 2nd round, my hair, once again, started to shed.
We paid close attention to my sodium level while I was admitted for my 2nd round. I tolerated it a lot better than my 1st round. I didn't vomit as much as I did during my 1st round. I was tired a lot and had cup noodles craving every time I needed to replenish.
Round 3
Because I had an aggressive cancer, the cancer was susceptive to the chemo. 3rd round continued to cause vomiting but it wasn't as bad as the 1st round. I had friends brought me sodium loaded food. I was tired by the 3rd day but I didn't lose consciousness and kept up with my cuppa noodles.
I had another CT scan and bone marrow biopsy prior to discharge so we could assess if I needed another round of chemo before harvesting my Stem Cell.