Follow Up to First Chemo

Adrienne's "easy" chemo with gemcitabine and vinorelbine turned out to be not quite so easy. First, she has a burning sensation in her arm where the IV was. It's been almost a week and it hasn't gotten any better. She will need a port after all.

Second, a full two days after the chemo, Adrienne got a bad case of hives and itching. She is probably allergic to the gemcitabine as about 30% of people have this reaction. Since she didn't have this problem when she got these drugs in 2002, she must have gained the allergy from her brother when she got his immune system in 2003. The symptoms are controllable with lots of Benadryl and a topical steroid cream, but the Benadryl makes her very sleepy.

I spoke with a doctor from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance where Adrienne had her second transplant nearly two years ago. The procedure we had hoped to complete (donor lymphocyte infusion) has not been curative for people with Hodgkin's Disease. The best we can hope for is a longer remission. The doctor suggested that Adrienne remain on chemo for about 3 months and then receive a very low dose DLI, which should have few or no side effects.

Some good news: Adrienne is a finalist for a merit scholarship at Claremont McKenna. They will fly her down the first weekend in March for a visit to the college. Stanford also agreed to accept a late application from her, so we are rushing to get that done.