Peter’s Hospital Diary

It has been quite a rollercoaster of a week, from last Mondays decision to start more conventional chemotherapy, to the change on Tuesday to continue with the rituximab, followed by the admission and administration. I had a bit of an anxious weekend – not exactly feeling unwell, but not exactly feeling on top form – I suspect partly by the electrolyte imbalance. I had occasional heart pain, which is probably due to potassium deficiency. I did go home with potassium supplements which seems to have solved that issue!

Im also slightly down on magnesium and calcium, but it is though that they will resolve naturally.

So it was with some anxiety that I attended clinic yesterday, hoping that the reduction in white cell count would have continued. It was with a sinking heart that I heard that they had gone up, quickly followed by an explanation that it was possibly because that the drugs were flushing the white cells out of the lymph nodes into the blood stream, where hopefully they die off. The good news is that my other blood counts and parameters are returning to normal ranges. This explanation accounts for the spike in white cells when I stated the ibrutinib.

So the plan is to have more rituximab this week, but this time as an outpatient (as I didn’t have an adverse reaction) and another CT scan to see what is happening with the lymph nodes.

Time for a quick thank you to middle daughter Katie who took me to, and collected me from hospital last week, and all my other very special friends who have supported me through one or two dark moments, and accompanied me to the clinic yesterday. It means a lot and I am very grateful.

So with the current plan in place (and others in the background, I am continuing Onwards and Upwards!