So much for the immune system replacing those damaged white blood cells quickly! In my case, improvement is slow and painstaking. What I didn’t say in yesterday’s post (what I did while lying down), is that while Rituxan (rituximab) is not a heavy duty (toxic) chemical, it is still a drug developed in a laboratory, and not a natural substance. It has side effects…not horrible like chemo, but not a walk in the park either. At least it isn’t for me.
At this time, there are 5 years data on Rituxan’s use. When I started on it in May of 2007, there were only 2 years data. I’m a bit of a guinea pig because this drug managed to get FDA approval under the Clinton administration without the usual 100 years (just kidding) of testing generally required in this country. That is not to say it had no testing, just that for some reason that I can’t remember, its successful use in Europe, along with some other loopholes in our system, brought approval more quickly. And because of this, many thousands of people have longer remissions and better chemo outcomes. So why am I complaining? I shouldn’t.
As I have gotten older I have become one of those persons who are said to have a delicate constitution. That was not always the case before the great mid-life shift in age. Perhaps this shift to delicate is concurrent with having had the lymphoma in it’s indolent stage for a long time before it transformed into its large cell manifestation? I just know that somewhere around mid-life, everything started changing and I got delicate. So now, 48+ hours after the miracle drug dripped into my body, I can report that I no longer have bone and muscle pain, heartburn, abnormal bloat, brain fog, peripheral neuropathy, low body temperature, and emotional melt-down. No, I am improving. I am just extremely fatigued, plagued with digestive misfiring, night time neuropathy, chilliness and bad humor. I have put in a call to my trusty homeopathic physician who will help me with these side effects that I couldn’t possibly be having, since the drug is so well tolerated by the vast majority receiving it.
* * * * *
Just spoke with homeopathic doctor X in the knick of time. I was about to spiral out into the stratosphere! I’m an emotional person. You probably already figured that out. Back to being grateful for Rituxan 🙂
* * * * *
Homeopathic Update: 2.5 hours after taking first dose of prescribed remedy, and I am feeling so much better that I’m wondering why I waited so long to call Dr. X. Hope it was stupidity and not pride… 😉
Called By Name 