It was during this stage, where Hannah’s trend of having constant delays to treatment began, if her immune system is too low (neutrophil levels), she has to have a pause in treatment. Her final dose of this stage, was given after a 3 week delay (pictured).
Here is a breakdown of Hannah’s second intensive stage of treatment:
Chemotherapy:
Cyclophosphamide – 1 hour infusion , day 1 and 29 of intensive stage.
Mercaptopurine (oral) – Daily, for 28 days.
Cytarabine – Through IV, 4 times a week (consecutive days), for 4 weeks
Intrathecal Chemotherapy (into spinal fluid):
Cytarabine – at day 10
Methotrexate – at day 24
Prednisolone – at day 10 and 24
There were also multiple additional drugs she had to take alongside these, some to prevent infection, side effects and allergic reactions, others to treat infections whenever they appeared.
We were bouncing between home and hospital, scared of leaving the security of hospital, and relived we could have some form of normality, however brief it was. Hannah’s first time in hospital on treatment, lasted 52 days, and this is a low number when compared to others who can spend many months on the ward.
1 thought on “Hannah’s treatment plan, second intensive stage, Protocol IB (29 days plus delays).”