8 down, 8 (perhaps less) to go

Eight treatments down and, if we remain on my oncologist’ original schedule, 8 to go. The halfway mark. Finally.

The Hodgkin’s is in remission, but it hasn’t been without cost. I’ve lost several pounds. While my blood counts remain stable (even excellent as far as WBCs — the infection fighters — go) , I’m still anemic with hemoglobin of 11.0.

Much more onimous is my significant loss of lung function and my loss of some heart function. My heart function dropped from an excellent, athlete’s heart rate of 75% to a more average 62%. That’s quite a significant drop, but anything above 50% is considered normal and “ok” according to my oncologist. As far as the lungs go, I have a significant dry cough. While most of my PFT stayed normal, my ability to exchange carbon monoxide is well below normal. It hurts when I take a deep breath. My doctor decided that he was dropping the bleomycin because of it.

Dr. S says he is otherwise pushing forward without the bleo — I’m completely done with bleo for any further treatments. Having done some research, I am hoping because I was in remission at 3 cycles, my doctor can actually stop the chemo at 6 cycles (12 treatments) rather than doing 8 cycles (16 treatments). The lung damage should correct since we caught it early, but I am now worried about my heart. Its still doing well, but that drop was significant and I am concerned.

I have my usual side effects: a not insigificant headache, some nausea, lack of appetite, generally lethargy, and hiccups. I always get hiccups. Otherwise, the only “new” symptom is this shortness of breath and cough. Hopefully without the bleomycin, it will correct.

Tags: ABVD, chemotherapy, hematology, Hodgkin's Disease, medicine, oncology