What safety measures should you take when your child is using thiotepa?
Tell the doctor or dentist that your child is taking thiotepa before your child has any operation, even on the teeth, or an emergency treatment.
Keep all appointments at the clinic or doctor's office so that the doctor can check your child's reaction to thiotepa.
Your child will receive medicine to prevent upset stomach and throwing up caused by thiotepa.
Thiotepa may cause sores in the mouth. Rinse your child's mouth with a mouthwash made from baking soda to help keep it clean. Your nurse or pharmacist can review this with you. Avoid store bought mouthwash containing alcohol as it may sting and cause dry mouth.
Your child's skin may darken while receiving thiotepa, especially on the elbows and knees and in skin creases. If this happens, it will slowly fade once your child stops taking thiotepa.
After treatment with thiotepa, this medicine may come through the skin as part of perspiration (sweat). This can cause irritation of the skin and can cause the skin to change colour. It may also mean that you or your child's caregivers are exposed to small amounts of this drug. As a result, your child's doctor or nurse may suggest:
- frequent baths while your child is receiving thiotepa: When you are bathing your child, pay particular attention to folds in the skin (such as armpits, groin, elbows, and back of knees). Wash all areas well and pat dry. Avoid rubbing, which may damage the skin.
- changing your child's clothes or bed linens regularly
- considering gloves and/or a gown to protect yourself from contact with thiotepa
Your child may lose their hair. It will grow back once your child is no longer receiving thiotepa. Its colour and texture may change. Use a gentle shampoo and a soft brush.
Thiotepa can lower the number of white blood cells in the blood temporarily, which increases your child's chances of getting an infection. Your child can take the following precautions to prevent infections, especially when the blood count is low:
- Avoid people with infections, such as a cold or the flu.
- Avoid places that are very crowded with large groups of people.
- Be careful when brushing or flossing your child's teeth. Your doctor, nurse, or dentist may suggest different ways to clean your child's mouth and teeth.
- You and your child should not touch your child's eyes or inside their nose without washing hands first.
- Your child's nurse will review with you what to do in case of fever.
Thiotepa can lower the number of platelets in the blood, which increases your child's risk of bleeding. You can take the following precautions:
- Be careful not to cut your child when using a razor, fingernail scissors, or toenail clippers.
- Your child should avoid contact sports where bruising or injury could occur.
- Before your child has surgery, including dental surgery, inform the doctor or dentist that your child is taking thiotepa.
- Your child should not receive a permanent tattoo or any kind of body piercing.
Your child should not receive any immunizations (vaccines) without your child's doctor's approval. Your child or anyone else in your household should not get oral polio vaccine while your child is being treated for cancer. Tell your child's doctor if anyone in your household has recently received oral polio vaccine. Your child should avoid contact with anyone who has recently received this vaccine.
There is a chance that thiotepa may cause birth defects if it is taken at the time of conception or if it is taken during pregnancy. If your child is sexually active, it is best that they use some kind of birth control while receiving thiotepa. Tell the doctor right away if your child may be pregnant.
After receiving thiotepa, your child may not be able to have children or have more difficulty having children. Your child's doctor will discuss this in more detail with you and your child.
Check with your child's doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any other medicines (prescription, non-prescription, herbal, or natural products).
