BEAM therapy fun!

And now the fun begins! On Jan 25 I was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic to have the BEAM chemotherapy regimen to get rid of my immune cells and then to have my stem cell transplant!

Day 1– I was excited! Today I received carmustine. It wasn’t bad. However, I did find it interesting how the nurses would gown up and wear double gloves while handling my medication. How toxic is this stuff they’re putting in me?! 😬

Day 2- 4 These days I got the same two drugs (cytarabine and etoposide) every 12 hours. The chemo starts taking its toll on you, and you end up looking super tired.

But one key thing is to stay ahead of the nausea. If have any slight inkling of queasiness, ask for meds right away. The whole chemo process is easier if you can avoid the nausea/vomiting.

Day 5- I got cytarabine and etoposide again, but this time I also got the horrible rATG (rabbit antithymocyte globulin). This drug is used to deplete your T cells. Well, I found out very quickly that me and rabbits DO NOT get along! 😠

Soon after I started getting the med, my body started shaking uncontrollably. I felt like I was in the Arctic 🥶 with my teeth chattering away! They gave me Demerol (meperidine), and thankfully that took care of things. Oh but then it got worse…

I spiked a fever 🥵 and in the MS world 🌎 that’s bad news! I couldn’t stand up, roll over in bed, or move any of my limbs. And to make it worse, I couldn’t swallow! So taking Tylenol to stop the fever was a hard task! But somehow I did, and slowly recovered! ☺️

Day 6- rATG and Melphalan

This time I had no problem with the rATG. After yesterday’s disaster, heme/onc got neurology on board and they recommended high dose steroids and Tylenol around the clock ⏰  I like when they work together 😀

Now the Melphalan. The big problem with this drug is that it can cause mucositis (mouth sores). To prevent this, they try to freeze you. They keep feeding you ice chips for an hour and put ice around your neck and jaws. It is pretty hilarious if you ask me!

And that is what has been going on this crazy week! My immune cells have all died 🪦

Tomorrow is Stem cell transplant day!!