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User: CancerNews
Drug or Chemo Therapy (rituxan): Blood values becoming too low---hemoglobin less than 8, RBC less than 2.5. Monoclonal antibody therapy proposed by doctor. Rituxan once a week for 8 weeks. First treatment in June 2012 a disaster---had to stop due to many side effects. Doctor added a steroid to counter side effects on weekly Rituxan treatments. This was successful but with a few mild side effects. Rituxan completed in August 2012. Now I'm waiting 2 months to see the results. If this is unsuccessful then chemo with Rituxan may be the next step. This scares the heck out of me. Rituxan is relatively mild compared with the side effects of many of the chemo drugs.
You might ask your doctor about Rituxan+bendamustine. Bendamustine is even milder than Rituxan but the combination is more effective and has fewer side effects than R-CHOP.
My experience with bendamustine was very positive. Rituxan nearly killed me (anaphylactic shock will do that) but the bendamustine caused no problems. My IGM went way down and has stayed there for more than a year.
Decision Point: Blood values are drifting too low. Will have to start treatment shortly. Opting for Rituxan alone rather than Rituxan/Chemo. It may be a better choice due to underlying heart disease. I am worried about the side effects
Side Effects (Bleeding): Abnormal blood counts (RBC, WBC, platelets, hemoglobin) sufficient to cause some side effects but not (yet) low enough to provoke treatment.
