Rituxan/ Apheresis as Entertainment

OK. Not really. The final task of the Vaccine team is to perform a “clean up” of blood cells using the mono-clonal antibody Rituxan, then follow up the next day with a significant herding of the cleaned-up cells in the Apheresis machine.
At this point, getting a liter or so of Rituxan shouldn’t be a big deal—as it was a regular part of earlier chemotherapy. I could even sit and write my blog posting while getting it… So you can imagine while reading this that you are connected to an IV, listening to vaguely soothing new-agey kind of music, getting a little fuzzy-headed, and diligently patrolling the frontiers of your mind to check for intruders.
This particular infusion room is pretty busy. It is more formally run than the center in Bethesda where I received the earlier chemo. For one thing, the nurses all don spatter gowns when administering the drugs. This can be disconcerting. Most of the people seem “old” but I am certain that I look different. On the other hand, you really hate to see someone who is much younger in here. For obvious reasons.
The elderly gent across the room is wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Because the temperature is no more than 65, he must be a beast.
They are ramping up the dosage rate as I write. In theory, as my tolerance proves itself, they can download faster. If my tolerance has declined a little, we may have some drama, during which time, I will defer logging my impressions. But so far, I would describe it as a mid-party fog. Time to stop drinking, if you have any sense, and you will feel fine tomorrow. Proceed beyond this point at your own risk.
Guess I will have one more beer.
11/18/09