Tyler was admitted as planned on 1/17/12. He started his first preparative chemo, Busulfan, that evening. The plan is to get this every six hours for four days, then move to the second chemo, Cytoxin. Busulfan’s main side effect is seizures, so Ty’s on Dilantin to prevent them. He’s having no bad side effects so far and is only tired because his first night he and four nurses watched his Friends DVDs until 5:00 AM!
Last night Tyler’s Busulfan labs showed that after only one day, he had exposure levels equal to four days’ worth of doses. This was concerning because too much Busulfan can damage the lining of the veins leading to his liver, and damaged veins would give him a higher likelihood of getting veno-occlusive disease (VOD) after transplant. VOD is a serious transplant side effect that affects the liver and can lead to total organ failure. Due to the high levels, they stopped the Busulfan, and we waited for more lab tests today. Today’s labs showed that his levels are now fine and he resumed the Busulfan this evening.
So, either the high levels were the result of a callibration issue in the lab, or Tyler did initally get overexposed. If the former is the case, he has no higher risk of VOD than any other patient. If the latter is the case, he does. Just to be sure, they will be extra vigilant in looking for signs of VOD once he has the transplant.
Aside from that scare, all has gone super well the past two days. Tyler’s still eating, getting up to walk around, having tutoring, and is in a good mood. Supposedly the Cytoxin that’s coming up in a few days is the one that has worse side effects, so we cherish each day he feels well! Thanks for your continued prayers!