About time for an update..
I went in to see the surgeon who put in my port today. He removed the stitches from that incision and it looks like it’s healing nicely. The port under my skin feels a little weird and I get twinges of pain quite often. He said that’s normal though, so I’m not too concerned. I don’t recall if I already mentioned, but my cancer doctor (Dr. Kovach) already removed the stitches from my biopsy incision on the day of my chemo, so I’m now fully free of stitches and can finish healing properly.
My INR was 2.6 today. I’m not having it tested again for 10 days, so hopefully it will stay fairly constant, although being in chemo apparently makes it fluctuate for a lot of people. On the other hand, I don’t have another chemo session until the 30th, so maybe it will stay fairly steady.
No hair loss yet. I can’t remember if the doctor said it would be 2-3 weeks or 2-3 treatments. I have an appointment with him on Monday when I’ll ask about that. I’m really not too worried about losing my hair though – the only concern is that it’s getting mighty cold out and I’m going to need some hats soon. Right now, I am a man without hat, which is a scary thought.
The side effects of the lymphoma seem to be dying down a bit, which is good news. My understanding of the way the chemo works is that the first treatment takes out a high percentage of the cancer cells (like, 80% or so), so the first treatment is the most effective. Subsequent treatments then mop up the remaining cells (if anyone else knows more about this, feel free to correct me). Anyway, the point being, I’m feeling a lot better already, which is good. Hopefully I’ll be feeling well enough to return to work soon. Maybe as soon as next week. We’ll see.
I’m going to try and make it to the Friday beers at work tomorrow, since it’s being held in our new building, and it would be nice to take a look around and catch up with everyone at the same time.