This week is the first of my "maintenance" treatments or chemo-lite as I call it; simply put I go in tomorrow and receive a few hours of Rituximab via IV along with a couple of meds to help me tolerate it. Rituximab is the newer anti-cancer drug that specifically targets the cancerous cells, this means that unlike the other drugs it does not have as many side-effects so I should be keeping all of my freshly grown hair and should be back up on my feet Saturday AM. The nicest part of maintenance for me is that there are no steroids involved! This makes me very happy as you may recall I did not much enjoy the Prednisone or the effects it had on me...
I had my blood-work done last week and it came back pretty much as expected, mostly normal but with two markers a bit lower than the norm, but climbing gradually back. Good news!
I also had a GP appointment yesterday to follow-up on the respirologist work done over the past few weeks; this was a tough appointment for me. The results of the bronchoscopy showed that I have an inter-cellular bacteria infection in my left lung; this is fairly common and not that big of a deal. I also have tested positive for an anti-body (in my blood) that indicates I have recently had "walking pneumonia) also not that big a deal as it is no longer there. The problem is that I still after three or four month have a persistent low grade cough that comes up when I am tired or when I exert myself, such as any hard training. The respirologist was on the fence for treating me with meds for this, but after my appointment yesterday we decided it would be best to treat this now; the treatment is simply a three week course of antibiotics. This would also mean toning down my training during this three weeks to allow my body to maintain itself; and this means I will not be competing in the Challenge Penticton this summer as I simply will not be in the condition I need to be in. This is a bit dis-appointing for me but the smart thing to do or in this case not to do, I now need to figure out a new goal and a new vacation plan for Lori and I this summer.
The new goal is to target the Victoria Marathon in October. There is lots of time for my training and a marathon is much easier on my system than an iron-distance tri is. I will still ride my bike and hit the gym but I won't need to do the heavy 7 hour rides or the intense speed work on the bike and I 'll be able to re-build my fitness base to a level that will make it possible to revisit the Challenge Penticton idea for next year.
Lori and I are still discussing vacation ideas...
This morning I am off to the oncologist for our discussion prior to tomorrow's chemo-lite; I'll let you know if anything changes but likely will not post until after tomorrow's drip.
Thanks again for reading.
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