Gettin' going

We arrived here at MDACC at 9 this morning to sign the consent forms and get the first dose of Rituxan at 10:30, with chemo lasting around 6 hours. Tamara was going to sign off yesterday, but the person in charge of the study concerning her chemo had apparently changed the protocol without letting everyone know. The change required the patient to be totally off of the initial chemo for six weeks, instead of the original three. We had been clear for 27 days. Doctor Shah (transplant) was adamant that there was a work around, but since the guy that changed everything was in Europe, we would need to come back early so everything could be placed in motion.

When we got here, we found out the guy would not budge. The chairman of the SCT department agreed to override the decision, but this being a government funded institution, you have to get signatures from multiple people in a particular order. Doctor Shah worked feverishly to get them, but by 3 time was running out. We had to get started before 5, or the entire transplant was at risk.

We occupied our time by getting the lay of the land. We visited the transplant floors, got a tour from one of the nurses, checked out the observation area on the 24th floor, ate a really crappy lunch, and generally tried to convince each other not to worry.

Just before 3, and after a whole lot of prayers, we got the green light!

Now we sit here (actually, I sit here. Tamara is laying down.) and see what side effects happen. They started the IV around 4, with the Rituxan going in around 5. Tamara had a mild reaction in the form of throat pain, so they gave her more Benadryl and some prednisone. Whenever you have a reaction, they have to wait 30 minutes to an hour before starting back up.

It's gonna be a long night.