The journey is starting...
Started off with lab works and then Dr. H came in to talk to us about the ICE regimen. He is going to get 3 different drugs:
Etoposide (Day 1-3)
Ifosfamide (connect day 2 - disconnect day 3)
Carboplatin (Day 2)
Neulasta (Day 4) - shot to boost WBC
These are different drugs than the first time around, also how they are taken. They are all administered via IV bags into the port in his chest. But this time around he is getting the drugs over 3 days. The Ifosfamide bag will be connected and then put in a bag that Aj will carry for 24 hours. It has a pump that slowly pushes the drug through. The ICE regimen is more likely to cause nausea than the CHOP he had before, so we picked up 3 different nausea medicines in their pharmacy. These are also to be taken on different days, that is something I think Dr. H has figured out how it works best. She also said that because he is not feeling sick, he has a head start going in to this treatment.
Hopefully he won't feel nausea at all, fingers crossed!
What is a little weird is that his WBC has gone up to 7.6 which is completely normal and the LDH is down to 104 which is also normal range. (these were off before) Its just weird - the labs shows no signs of illness, but then the slides and PET scan tells us something different.
At Texas Oncology they have a room called 'The Infusion Room'. Its a room with 32 recliners in lines of 4, flat screens and a snack station. Each patient sits in a chair and then the nurses come up with an IV stand where they hang the drugs and then connect to the port or Picc lines. The patient sits here anything from an hour to several hours, all depending on what type of chemo.
People bring blankets, laptops (Adrian :)) knitting, play games, read magazines, watch TV or take naps. It is a very relaxing place and everyone are really nice.
... I started writing when we were still there. Now we just got home! :) Done for today.
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