Mets Day 1070: Third Opdivo infusion

Yesterday I spent a long day at Johns Hopkins getting my third infusion of nivolumab. I left my home in Northern Virginia at 9 am and arrive at JHU at about 10:15 am and had a short wait before I was called in for my lab work. The nurse could not get a return from my port, so she ended up drawing blood the old-fashioned way. Since it takes three hours for the pharmacy to custom-make the infusion, I walked over to the cafeteria and read the paper while trying to ignore the inanities of "the Price Is Right" on the TV.

My appointment with Dr. Hahn was at 12:40, so I wandered back down to the waiting room and was called in soon thereafter. Because the clinical trial Sponsor wants to note any possible side effects, I told Dr. Hahn about a strange pain in around left ear that started about 5 days ago. He checked it out - no inflammation to the ear drum - shrugged, and said to let him know if it persisted.

At 1:30 I was called into the infusion area, where the nurse placed another IV for the Opdivo drug mix. At the same time, he fiddled around with my port, flushing a mixture of saline and heparin, and eventually ordered a clot-busting drug that would dissolve whatever was blocking the tip of the port from allowing a return. I'd had a similar problem with this port in 2102 when the tip got lodged in the side of my vein. I eventually had an interventional radiologist snake a line up through my femoral artery to move the tip. This time, after soaking for an hour or so, the clot-busting drug seemed to do the trick and my nurse was able to get a return. I got back home by 5 pm.

The main reason why the visit seemed longer than usual was that I had started to feel sick the day before, and didn't sleep well. I must have picked up a bug while flying home from Utah on Sunday March 15. I had spent 10 days out there spending time with my granddaughter, visiting with other family, and playing with my granddaughter. I went skiing with my brother and was reminded just how out of shape I am. My quads and hamstrings protested for days after. But I'm recovered now.

Next week I have a CT scan, which will be the first glimpse of whether the Opdivo has shrunk my tumors in my neck and shoulder. The doctors will compare that scan to my baseline scan of early February, and determine whether my cancer has progressed, held steady, or shrunk. The doctors caution that they want to see the results defined by two scans (scheduled for March 24 and May 5), so next week's scan will not be definitive. It will, however, give some idea as to what mischief my cancer is up to.