Rituxan Treatment Activity Bag

Hi!

I start Rituxan treatments on Wednesday. This will be my first time. I was diagnosed at the end of December. Up to this point, I have used Pred. As long as I stay above 30 mg of Pred, my counts are ok, but when I go lower than that, my numbers fall. So, I am going to try the Rituxan. I'm pretty nervous about the entire process, but anything has to be better than the side effects of Pred.

I know that the Rituxan treatment takes quite a few hours. My hematologist told me to bring an "Activity Bag" of things to do to keep me busy and to keep my mind off the treatment. I'm planning on bringing a book and my Kindle Fire.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas of things to bring with me to the treatment to help keep me busy and keep my mind off the process? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hi Jaime,

Sounds like a nice doctor to give you that advice. A book and kindle fire sounds good. Ive had rituxan 3 times and brought kindle with an Audible book downloaded into it and headphones. I suggest an audible book because most doctors will give you benedryl which will make you sleepy. Many people sleep right through the treatments. I cant ever sleep but sort of drowse through while listening to a good book. Magazines are good too.

I always bring snacks, rituxan bothers my stomach but it helps me to eat a small amount at a time...granola bars, yogurt, cheese and crackers.

During one of my rituxan treatments my kindle fire frooze. It was funny, 2 of the nurses were trying to fix it and one called amazon customer support and got it working for me!

I was too sleepy to do anything. I took a book, but just kept reading the same sentences over and over. I gave up and went to sleep. The time flew.

I took a couple of crossword puzzle books and a book to read.

I took my Kindle Fire and watched movies since there was wifi.

Whatever you bring to eat make sure it is low odor. There will be others receiving chemo nearby who may be feeling very sick.
Erica

I always brought my own food and coffee. The dry sandwich and fattening cookies don't sit well with me. Also, I drink decaf and can never find anyone who serves it. The nurse who was hooking me up saw my themos and ask me if it was coffee. I replied that it was and then she exclaimed that she couldn't find my vein and said that the coffee had dehydrated me. I said, "Decaf doesn't dehydrate, right?" She then found my vein with no problem.

Thank you so much for the tips! I hadn't thought about the food at all.

When I did it I brought my lap top but like Sandi I pretty much slept. I do not read books Ipod's are good to bring than you can listen to music or listen to books or movies!

Jamie,

I brought my laptop and caught up with some stuff from work, took naps, brought healthy snacks and watched movies on the laptop. One day I met some really nice people and we ended up talking for hours. It made the time fly.