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CHOP CHOP
is one of the most common chemotherapy regimens for treating Non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma. My
CHOP Chemotherapy Regimen consisted of: C
Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan®) Plus
Rituxan - a monoclonal antibody; just to finish things off
nicely. CHOP
is given every three weeks, usually over a period of 6 months. The exact
number of times you receive CHOP will determined by the stage of the disease
and your consultants recommendations. Cyclophosphamide,
Doxorubicin and Vincristine are usually given through a saline intravenous
drip and the drugs are injected into the IV tube while you still receive the
saline solution. Prednisone
is administered in pill form (I was on 20 a day) over a period of days. Apparently
the doses are determined by the total body area, so I guess that the bigger
you are, the more you get. Rituxan
is one of the recent breakthroughs in cancer treatment, and it attacks a
specific protein called a CD20. Click on the link to read about it, and
consider yourself lucky to be getting it, as I have it on good authority that
it costs a fortune. In
addition to the above drugs, you will also be given anti-sickness and other
drugs before you are given your initial dose. One to watch out for is
Dexamethasone, which if given quickly into the vein can cause a very strange
sensation in your bum, not the whole bum, just the middle bit. I can only
describe it as a tingling sensation, which doesn’t really do it justice. It’s
uncomfortable but not sore, just strange. Anyway, you will have gathered it’s
hard to describe. Your chemo nurse should tell you from the outset about it,
and if it is given slowly then it’s easy. The feeling doesn’t last long
anyway, but you will definitely know what I’m talking about.
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