Day -11: First Day of Actual Chemotherapy Drugs

Today was Dad's first day of Busulfan, the first of the three chemo "big guns"! To ensure that the schedule would go smoothly, Mom and Dad drove down to UAB from Huntsville on Sunday afternoon for the first dose today (Monday). Dad had to start taking a medication called Ativan on Sunday, as it helps to prevent siezures, which is one of the worst side effects of Busulfan. They were careful to start that on time.

They arrived at the BMTU bright and early Monday morning. Dad was first given a lot of IV fluids as well as Zofran, to prevent nausea, another common Busulfan side effect. The Busulfan was started around 11am and it took about three hours to give. Part of the study that Dad is in involves optimizing the level of the drug in his body, and so blood samples were taken several times throughout the day. During the next two days while Dad is "off" the doctors will use that data to evaluate how quickly Dad is metabolizing Busulfan, and then determine the best dose for him.

Dad tolerated the Busulfan very well and thankfully felt well enough to go back to Huntsville around 5pm, after the last blood level was checked. We were all relieved when Mom and Dad called us to say that they were on their way back! Now Dad will have two days of freedom at home before he has to go back for his second Busulfan dose on Thursday.