Chemo #3 - hopefully this does the trick & we're able to taper her ACTH injections with the addition of Methotrexate & not see symptoms return. We went in Thursday so they could draw blood & check her counts to make sure that we were a go to start administering Friday. We met with the Pharmacists (more of the sweetest people ever - SERIOUSLY Huntsville Hospital/St Jude's has a direct link to the best people imaginable!!) & went over handling precautions & methods of administering, etc. Since it is chemo, I've got to wear gloves to handle the pill & keep them, or anything else that comes in contact with it separate & sealed in a bag to return to the hospital so they can dispose of it properly. It's also excreted in bodily fluids so I've got to wear gloves to change diapers, & much to my dismay we've had to switch from cloth diapers to disposables*. No more fluffy lil' tushies unless we decide to have a third lil' Mercieca. :(
We got the call Friday that her counts were good & to go ahead as planned. The hardest part was deciding how to give her the pill. If I gave it to her to chew or hid it in something like a blueberry then she'd have residue in her mouth & I wouldn't be able to nurse her. Alex called a friend of ours who's a compounding Pharmacist (Love you Lowe's!!) & asked about getting empty capsules to put the pill in so we could just have her swallow it. That didn't go exactly as planned because she of course doesn't understand "swallow this pill" so after struggling a bit, it stayed in her mouth too long & the capsule dissolved. This weeks plan is to have her practice swallowing tic tacs so she can get the hang of it. Hopefully that works!
Plus side...no nausea, fever or other visible side effects after the first dose...hopefully that continues!
Getting ready to go to the hospital but she wanted to show me a dance first! :)
*The Dr Frank Crim Compassion Fund at Huntsville Hospital's Foundation has come to our rescue & is helping us with the purchase of disposables since that is a pretty large surprise expense that we've never budgeted for. That is a huge weight off our shoulders! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
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