First Cycle

Bryan's first cycle of chemotherapy began on Thursday. It was a long day: the first medication, Rituxan, had to be administered slowly in order to reduce the risk of an allergic reaction. This is a fairly new medication that has been very successful, a biological therapy that has no side effects and targets the bad cells for destruction.

Subsequent medications, the typical chemical therapy drugs, were quickly administered. These cause nausea and fatigue, as they destroy fast-growing cells, good or bad. So far he's been able to tolerate the medications quite well, with minimal nausea and fatigue. Today is supposed to be the worst day for these side effects, and he should feel better each day.