February 6, 2010 - First Chemo Treatment

today was marc's first full chemo treatment. more on that, but first, an overview:

the previous three days included (among other things) a bone marrow test, a spinal tap, a PET scan, a chemo injection in his spine, and plenty o' blood work.

marc is surrounded by great nurses, positive and talented doctors, his mom, a phone, and a few other family member visitors. he is fortunate to have aunt lisa and uncle tad who are doctors at the UCSF medical center, where he is located, who are helping to orchestrate his care and oversee his treatment plan. he has a tv that is too small but a grove of beautiful eucalyptus trees out his window.

his spirits are almost always high and full of spice with a fair amount of sobriety about all that is worth fighting for and how long this race will feel. he is usually more worried about not going crazy during an upcoming three week hospital stay than he is concerned about the side effects of chemo.

his first chemo treatment went pretty well. he felt pain relief from the treatment which is tackling the cancer that is creating the pressure and pain. he felt some nausea and side effects in the evening and mom stayed the night at the hospital.

he was accompanied by his big sister and a couple cousins during his first treatment and it was probably more effort to bear his family member's goofiness than the side effects of the chemo. 

the treatment course will be aggressive as the type of non-hodgkins lymphoma marc has is also very aggressive. the plan thus far is that there are four more days of chemo in this round of treatment, then ten days off in truckee, then he will return to UCSF for three weeks of treatment. from there they will reassess and build the next phase of the treatment plan.

though cancer is scary and this one is aggressive and advanced, the doctors are all confident of the fact that he is going to make a full recovery.

we all expect nothing less.

(posted by sister melissa, amber, aunt wendy and uncle pat with marc's consent)