CR Day 149: 19th Opdivo infusion

Today was one of my quickest infusion days at Hopkins: 3.5 hours from entry to exit. My labs were ready since I had my blood drawn on Tuesday (I spent most of yesterday at the FDA). Today I chatted with Dr. Hahn and two of his fellows - one from Brazil and the other from Portugal. I mentioned that I had attended the SITC conference on November 7, and learned just how quickly changing was the field of immunotherapy cancer research. Dr. Hahn had a conflict and was unable to attend the conference, but agreed that the field was white hot.

As part of his usual checkup, I said that I recently had noticed a light rash on my lower legs, especially around my calves. My legs badly itched as soon as I put them in a bathtub of hot water, or the hot tub, but otherwise were fine. He examined the rash carefully, and asked if I had a rash anywhere else. I replied that it did not think so, although at times I would catch myself scratching around my neck. He did not see any visible rash around my neck, and said that it could be nothing, or it could be an indicator that my body was beginning to react to the nivolumab. He urged me to let him know if the rash got any worse, or if my body showed any other unusual symptoms. Barring any toxicity issues, he said that he agreed that I should keep going with the treatments. I was already scheduled through December, so we scheduled infusions through the end of February.

I waited in the infusion waiting room for about an hour for a chair to open up, but once I was seated the drug was ready and waiting - a first! Better yet, the infusion nurse said that I was no longer required to have my vitals taken three times during the infusion.  My port was quickly accessed and  and in 70 minutes I was done.

Each day Jennifer and I give thanks that my cancer has retreated and that my life has been extended. Each day is a gift from God, and I try to live my life with an attitude of gratitude.