I went to the oncologist to get the results of the bone marrow test -- and there's something not quite right in there, in small amounts, but there's not enough of it for diagnostic purposes. Hopefully the new round of chemo will wipe that little bit out in short order.

I am starting the EHSAP protocol this time (I had ABVD last time). I'll go in for chemo every day for five days (around 7 hours the first four days and just a couple of hours the fifth). This will get repeated every 3 to 4 weeks, depending on how I tolerate the treatments (and what my counts look like). Luckily for me (and my students) the first week of treatments happens over spring break. And as long as I'm tolerating it okay, the second set will be very interesting.

See, I'm determined to work all the way through chemo just like I did last time. I promise I won't completely push it and compromise my health, but I'm going to work. I've made arrangements to get to chemo ASAP on Monday and start the chemo up right away. The nurse will unhook me and I'll book it to class at about 11:30. I have to keep drinking water the whole time I'm off the IV. As soon as I'm done with classes (around 2:45), I'll fly back to the chemo clinic and finish up the treatment. Wednesdays, though will be harder. The clinic closes at 3 that day, so I've arranged to teach class online that day. :)

I went in for a biopsy March 7 (just to dot the i's and cross the t's) and to have a port put in. The port is a nifty little device where the nurse sticks the needle for the IV, but I don't really feel it at all. When I'm done for the day, they put a dressing on it and we leave the needle in so that they don't have to stick me every single day.

The week of chemo was not as bad as I'd feared. I was definitely bored but the biggest drawback to being at chemo for seven hours four days in a row was that I had to go to the bathroom every twenty minutes! Literally! One of the couples sitting near me began timing me every time I got up. Twenty minutes on the nose. The other problem was that I was so incredibly full of fluids that I really couldn't do more than snack for the whole time I was hooked up to the IV. That evening, though, I was ravenous and devoured my dinner. Interesting side effect: I stopped drinking Dr. Pepper that week and lost ten pounds! (I used to drink WAY too much Dr. Pepper.)

The weekend after chemo I was really tired and exhausted all weekend. Monday I was a bit shaky, but determined to go to work anyway. I got through the day okay, but I did teach sitting down instead of standing up and pacing the whole hour. Tuesday was better and by Wednesday, I felt perfectly normal.

Well, except that I didn't take any nausea medicine that morning. There was a small incident, but that's been the only one.

Talking with the bone marrow doctor >

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