Well, it's been almost a month since my last update. I had my first ABVD treatment on January 8th. Far and beyond, it was a very good treatment day. I went in, and I was their only full ABVD for the day. Started at 8am and left around 1pm. There were others that came, got their medicine and left, so I was the first in and last out for the day.  

I didn't have any issues with the preparatory medications. Although, one of the anti-nausea medications is reaction free on the first dose, but may cause a reaction on the second. So I will be getting a test dose this Friday for my second treatment. So naturally, ABVD is an easy acronym for the chemo drugs I got. Broken out they are Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, and Dacarbazine. A and V are push meds. The nurse basically hooks a large syringe up to my port and pushes the meds through over about 2 minutes. The A caused my urine to turn pinkish. Some people reported it turned beet red. I don't recall any sensations from the V. B and D are IV infusions. The B was 30 minutes and the D was 90 minutes. For B I felt like the room warmed up a few degrees. Didn't bother the nurse any, never took my temperature. I did get weird tastes in my mouth for the A and V, but managed them by eating a protein bar prior to A, and chewing gum for V and while D was being dispensed.

After I got home from treatment, I got really tired and pale. Slept for about 3 hours and felt better. Other than that, it seemed the pill steroids (my theory) caused hiccups while I was taking them; Saturday through Monday. I did get some light nausea Saturday night, but the A-N meds they gave me took care of that. But three days of hiccups was uncomfortable to say the least. That said, my appetite has been good. They thought I may have had the beginnings of thrush, and the medicine is 5 days of bleh. 

So I have a follow-up tomorrow, and a treatment on Friday. All in all, I am happy with my progress. Forgot to mention that the insane itchiness disappeared after the first treatment. So thankful, because that was getting tiresome. More updates to come. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. They certainly help.