Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Mylotarg

I just finished the two hour infusion of mylotarg. As the nurse said, "Now the fun begins!" We're waiting to see how I react. The "biggy" is VOD or veno occlusive disease. To summarize, basically the small veins leading into the liver can become blocked by the amount of cells we just killed and can cause the liver to swell, resulting in acute pain, or sometimes just long-term liver failure (similar to an alcoholic, though usually the person's liver fails within three months.) More immediate, less severe side effects remind me of those with the anti-fungal Amphotericin-B -- "shake 'n bake" with fever and severe chills. I'm on benadryl and tylenol to help control possible side effects, and if the chills kick in they will use Demerol.

So, hopefully the afternoon will be a quiet one and we will see great effects from this drug. My white count is at .02 right now, so I'm basically at my nadar point, though they said mylotarg can cause you to hit nadar the same day -- for those not familiar with chemo the nadar point usually takes about 7-14 days to occur, which is why I'm in the midst of it now from last week's chemo. I don't know if I do a very good job explaining. It basically means my marrow is wiped out and I don't have a white count. I may need red cells and platelets as a result of the mylotarg today as well. We'll see.

I'll update more later. Thanks, as always, for your prayers.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praying for you on this day of Independence. We are praying you will be free from your leukemia soon! You have been such a wonderful example of dependence on God!
Have a wonderful day!
Love you,
Gina

Amy K. said...

Happy Independence Day! Thanks for your inspiration...you'll be in my thoughts and prayers today!

Anonymous said...

Amy,

We're thinking of you, as we so often do, but especially today! We pray that this will be the treatment that puts you into remission.

I pray you will have a very uneventful afternoon and enjoy a happy Independence Day with Brandon.

Blessings,
Anne C. and family

Anonymous said...

I, too, had the thought that today's prayer would be of one of independence for you. Your Independence Day from the awful effects of the drugs and the disease.

Praying for health, recovery, remission, peace, strength, happiness, joy, love, and above all else, God's love surrounding you.

Jules said...

Stumbled across your blog today as I was wandering around the 'net.

Praying for you here. I don't know what else to say, since I don't know you, but I trust God to hold you and yours safe through this storm.

Kim said...

Thinking about you today, Amy. We are praying for remission. May God bless you richly today.

Kim

Anonymous said...

Praying for you today. May you live long enough to see your son in his old age.

Nancy

Linds said...

Happy 4th July, Amy.... I am praying for you.

Pam said...

Do you have enough of a view from your room to catch a glimpse of some fireworks? I hope so:)

lymphoma leukemia said...

I like this post about leukemia, is very interesting, I like investigate this article!