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Today Mom has began the ATG doses, which are given to her through IV very very slowly throughout the course of 8-10 hours. The ATG used in Mom's treatment is derived from rabbits, and is designed to further deplete her immune system by using antibodies against her T cells. A T cell, or T lymphocyte, is a type of lymphocyte (a subtype of white blood cell) that plays a central role in cell-mediated immunity. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes, such as B cells and natural killer cells, by the presence of a T-cell receptor on the cell surface. By using ATG after cyclophosphamide the goal is to deplete her bone marrow as well as cells responsible for immunity, which have gone haywire and mistakenly attack her myelin sheath (this is what MS is).
Some of the patients who are given ATG have fairly severe reactions, and it is prone to causing fevers, chills, and nausea. This is why they administer it very slowly, starting off with 5 mL per hour (the ATG is mixed in with a saline solution, so it isn't 5 mL of straight ATG), then going up to 10 mL per hour, 15 mL, etc. up to 25 mL per hour if the patient is handling the treatment okay. They check your temperature often and keep a close eye on you.
She was feeling alright all day, a little bit hot now and then but not much else. To help prevent side effects and prevent a dangerously high fever, they administer acetominophen, methylprednisone, and a few other agents such as anti-emetics (prevents nausea), and some antibiotics to prevent any infection. It wasn't until a few hours after the administration of ATG was over that she experienced any side effects. She woke up late in the evening vomiting, which could be from the chemo or the ATG. This carried on throughout the night while she attempted to get some sleep intermittently, but didn't have much luck.
Her PICC line keeps forming a blood clot which makes it difficult for the nurses to take a blood sample in the mornings. We've been assured that her blood counts are still very good, so since her platelets are still performing as normal they apparently try to stop the blood from flowing out the PICC line. At the same time, she's been having some bleeding and IV fluid leak onto her protective bandages, which is apparently normal due to low platelets. Who knows. They apply a pressure bandage over the line and that seems to fix the leakage problem.
I tried to get her mind off of how sick she was feeling by putting on a documentary she was interested in. It discussed how fasting plays a role in aging and auto-immune illness. There is a type of hormone in human blood that's called insulin-like growth factor 1. So far research has shown that having higher amounts of IGF-1 in your body increases your risk of having 7 different types of cancer, and one of the things that contributes to this is eating too much protein. A study of a small population of people in Ecuador, who have much lower levels of IGF-1 (because they lack a growth hormone receptor), showed that they rarely develop cancer and other age-related conditions. They are smaller than regular people, as IGF-1 is important when growing as a child, but they live very long and have almost no history of cancer or auto-immune illness. They live similar lives to the average population -they smoke, drink, eat poorly, and don't maintain physical activity, yet they don't suffer the same diseases we do. There was another study conducted on the 5:2 diet, which involves eating 5 days of the week normally, and then eating only 500 calories for 2 days out of the week. The reason fasting is relevant is because fasting for two days by only eating 500 calories is enough to lower the amount of IGF-1 in your body by a good amount, while also lowering blood pressure, encouraging the body to use fat as energy once it's glucose stores have been used up, as well as encouraging new connections in the brain. Fasting has also been shown to slow down how quickly cells divide, providing an opportunity for cells to be repaired.
It was interesting enough that it kept Mom's mind off of the ATG while she dozed off now and then. Here's to hoping tomorrow's ATG dose goes a little better.
Some of the patients who are given ATG have fairly severe reactions, and it is prone to causing fevers, chills, and nausea. This is why they administer it very slowly, starting off with 5 mL per hour (the ATG is mixed in with a saline solution, so it isn't 5 mL of straight ATG), then going up to 10 mL per hour, 15 mL, etc. up to 25 mL per hour if the patient is handling the treatment okay. They check your temperature often and keep a close eye on you.
She was feeling alright all day, a little bit hot now and then but not much else. To help prevent side effects and prevent a dangerously high fever, they administer acetominophen, methylprednisone, and a few other agents such as anti-emetics (prevents nausea), and some antibiotics to prevent any infection. It wasn't until a few hours after the administration of ATG was over that she experienced any side effects. She woke up late in the evening vomiting, which could be from the chemo or the ATG. This carried on throughout the night while she attempted to get some sleep intermittently, but didn't have much luck.
Her PICC line keeps forming a blood clot which makes it difficult for the nurses to take a blood sample in the mornings. We've been assured that her blood counts are still very good, so since her platelets are still performing as normal they apparently try to stop the blood from flowing out the PICC line. At the same time, she's been having some bleeding and IV fluid leak onto her protective bandages, which is apparently normal due to low platelets. Who knows. They apply a pressure bandage over the line and that seems to fix the leakage problem.
I tried to get her mind off of how sick she was feeling by putting on a documentary she was interested in. It discussed how fasting plays a role in aging and auto-immune illness. There is a type of hormone in human blood that's called insulin-like growth factor 1. So far research has shown that having higher amounts of IGF-1 in your body increases your risk of having 7 different types of cancer, and one of the things that contributes to this is eating too much protein. A study of a small population of people in Ecuador, who have much lower levels of IGF-1 (because they lack a growth hormone receptor), showed that they rarely develop cancer and other age-related conditions. They are smaller than regular people, as IGF-1 is important when growing as a child, but they live very long and have almost no history of cancer or auto-immune illness. They live similar lives to the average population -they smoke, drink, eat poorly, and don't maintain physical activity, yet they don't suffer the same diseases we do. There was another study conducted on the 5:2 diet, which involves eating 5 days of the week normally, and then eating only 500 calories for 2 days out of the week. The reason fasting is relevant is because fasting for two days by only eating 500 calories is enough to lower the amount of IGF-1 in your body by a good amount, while also lowering blood pressure, encouraging the body to use fat as energy once it's glucose stores have been used up, as well as encouraging new connections in the brain. Fasting has also been shown to slow down how quickly cells divide, providing an opportunity for cells to be repaired.
It was interesting enough that it kept Mom's mind off of the ATG while she dozed off now and then. Here's to hoping tomorrow's ATG dose goes a little better.
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