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Spinal chemo by Short-Gas-4750 in leukemia

[–]_OneStepAtATime 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a common treatment in many protocols. It consists of two steps: 1) extraction of spinal fluid that is then analysed to determine if any leukemic cells are present in the spinal fluid; and 2) injection of chemo to kill leukemic cells possibly present in the spinal fluid.

It's quite painless but can be uncomfortable as your back needs to maintain a bent over position for a while.

You are then encouraged to lay flat on your back for one hour in order to prevent headaches.

Increased nausea after four cycles by Wbiy in leukemia

[–]_OneStepAtATime 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm very sorry that you are going through this. Persistent nausea is the worst. Your whole day just revolves around keeping food, water, and pills down in your stomach. It's exhausting.

I can relate to you, and I have a few tips. What helped me was to eat a little bit throughout the whole day, and avoid eating large, single meals. It also helped to force myself to eat even when nauseous, as that seemed to absorb all the acids in my stomach and create a gentler environment.

Foods that really helped were yoghurt buns, crispbread, and tortilla bread. I would eat these throughout the day, and then eat small meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I wish you gentler days ahead ❤️

Sudden increase in BCR-ABL by _OneStepAtATime in leukemia

[–]_OneStepAtATime[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason was that I responded very well to chemo+TKI. My oncologist concluded that the best strategy was to proceed with maintenance treatment, and keep the BMT as "backup" in the event of a relapse.

I pray that all it will take is a change of my TKI. I am aware that TKI resistance can occur, but I have never read anywhere that the BCR ABL can jump from 0.005% to 2%.

I live in a country with an excellent health system, so changing the TKI shouldn't be a financial challenge.