Part 3: ABVD Chemotherapy & Remission (Jan - Jul 2019)

As my diagnosis was HL, I was put under the care of MSK's Lymphoma Team, lead by Dr. Moskowitz.

My prescribed treatment as is fairly routine for HL, was 12 treatments ("6 cycles") of ABVD chemotherapy over the course of 6 months.

Treatment entailed infusion via IV of 4 chemotherapy drugs:
Adriamycin (aka Doxorubuzone)
Bleomycin
Vinblastine
Dacarbazine

Also part of the infusion was a steroid and anti-nausea medication, to counteract the side affects of the ABVD drugs themselves.

I was also given about 6 other drugs (some prescription, some OTC) to take orally to counteract the side affects of ABVD.  In total including the ABVD itself, I counted over 12 medications that I was on during the treatment period.

I began this treatment on 1/24/19 and completed as scheduled on 6/27/19, with relatively few complications.

The anti-nausea drugs did their part, I rarely felt nauseous and did not ever vomit. In fact thanks to the steroids and the ravaging appetite that ensued, I very happily put on 25 pounds throughout the course of my 6 month treatment!  I started at 178 lbs and finished at 203 lbs. (I only lost about half of those pounds in the subsequent 6 months. Not complaining!)

I will discuss all side affects and complications in detail in an update to this post.



After another PET scan in July, I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Moskowitz on 7/25/19, at which I was formally declared "In Remission", aka "No Evidence of Disease"!!!

Here’s me in early July 2019, within a week of my 12th and final treatment: