What safety measures should you take when your child is using ifosfamide?
Your child will receive medicine to prevent upset stomach and throwing up caused by ifosfamide.
Your child may lose their hair. It will grow back once your child is no longer receiving ifosfamide. Its color and texture may change. Use a gentle shampoo and a soft brush.
Ifosfamide may make your child drowsy or less alert than normal. Watch carefully when your child is doing something that they need to be alert for, such as climbing stairs.
Ifosfamide 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.
Your child should not receive any immunizations (vaccines) without your child's doctor's approval. Your child and 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. Other live vaccines that your child should not get include measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and chickenpox vaccine.
Ifosfamide 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.
- Be careful when shaving or waxing.
- Your child should avoid contact sports where bruising or injury could occur.
- Your child should not receive a permanent tattoo or any kind of body piercing.
- Before your child has surgery, including dental surgery, inform the doctor or dentist that your child is taking ifosfamide.
Ifosfamide 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, as it may sting and cause dry mouth.
There is a chance that ifosfamide 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 she use some kind of birth control while receiving ifosfamide. Tell the doctor right away if your child may be pregnant.
After receiving ifosfamide, your child may not be able to have children or may 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).
