Well, here I am in the chair for my second GVD infusion. I’m excited to get the medicine flowing through me to help me in my continued quest of “remission”. I think the first infusion has done some damage to the tumors as I no longer feel the back pain in the evening like I did in the weeks after ICE. I can also feel the small tumors (under my arms, on my spine, in my abdomen and in my right pectoral area that showed up on my PET) dying or being squeezed. Yeah, I guess the best description is a squeezing feeling rather than pain. I’ve read on my Hodgkins forum that this is a common sensation from chemo that my fellow posters report as “tumor shrinkage pain”. I know this is what is happening to me too…
The large tumor in my chest seems to be shrinking as well. I can take deeper breaths these days and can hold my breath for 1-1:30 without too much trouble. There is scar tissue in my chest from the Bleomycin (from my first ABVD regimen) so I think the pain I feel in my chest when inhaling is from the scar tissue (mostly) rather than the tumor. I think this infusion plus another cycle will be enough to shrink and kill this tumor for good!
There is an area that is more of a mystery and I’ll be trying to monitor it more closely… The area I’m referring to is the tip of my 5th rib posterior which contains a lytic lesion that’s been there at least since February of this year according to CT scans. There is a soft tissue component in the rib that contains cancer and has been eating away at the bone. The SUV level on my last scan was 7.0. I’ve had pain in this area since I’ve had disease. In fact, I can remember one night when I was living in Socal where I woke up feeling like someone stuck a knife in my back. This is an area that I felt intense pain after a few sips of alcohol as well. Once I finished the ICE chemo, the alcohol pain went away thankfully. Like I mentioned, I have experienced pain in this area recently (dull pain) especially yesterday starting in the afternoon. This area along with the tumor in my chest will be putting up the most resistance to the GVD chemo I think.
I can imagine however the GVD chemo working with my immune system in this area especially hard for this infusion and my next cycle since a lot of work has been done on the smaller tumors. Gabe, my Oncologist’s P.A. mentioned to me that there are tons of blood vessels that go through the rib area so it’s only a matter of time before the cancer in this area puts up the white flag and submits to my hired (GVD) and own bounty hunters. I will have a hollow area in that portion of the bone but through research have found out this can and will heal in a couple of years. There may be some discomfort during this time but nothing I can’t handle.
Finally, I want to say something about my immune system. I know that it is capable of protecting me from this and any other cancers once we get this thing into remission. The last few years I have taxed my body with stress and bad sleeping patterns not to mention putting things in my body that don’t help keep my defense systems strong. I now know the importance of rest, good nutrition, relaxation and prayer and how it can help my immune system fight off foreign invaders. This is why I know the GVD chemo will work for me as it’s gentler on my immune system which is needed to help the chemo rid my body of the Reed Sternberg cells and ultimately prepare me for my stem cell transplant.
