CAR T-Cell Therapy - Patient Education

Car T-Cell Therapy
PATIENT EDUCATION

  • Home
  • Preparing for CAR T-Cell Therapy
    • Your Care Team
    • Evaluation Tests and Screening
    • Financial and Insurance Planning
    • Identifying a Caregiver
    • Short-Term Accommodations
    • Psychosocial Support
  • Steps of CAR T-cell Therapy
    • Step 1: Cell Collection
    • Step 2: CAR T-Cell Manufacturing
    • Step 3: Bridging Therapy
    • Step 4: Preparative Chemotherapy
    • Step 5: CAR T-Cell Infusion
  • Side Effects
  • Receiving CAR T-Cell Therapy in the Hospital
  • Receiving CAR T-Cell Therapy in the Outpatient Clinic
  • Recovering from CAR T-Cell Therapy
    • Infection Precautions
    • Nutrition
    • Physical Activity
  • When to Call Your Care Team
  • For Caregivers
  • Resources
  • Contact Information

When to Call Your Care Team

Page your physician (617-632-3352) right away if you notice the following:
  • Temp greater than 100.4°F
  • ICE (Immune Effector Cell-associated Encephalopathy) score less than 10
  • Chills or shaking
  • Fainting
  • Irregular or fast heartbeat
  • Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing
  • Severe nausea, vomiting that prevents eating
  • Diarrhea (more than 4-5 loose bowel movements per day)
  • Bleeding from gums, nose, mouth
  • Blood in urine, stool, or sputum
  • Severe or unusual headaches
  • Blurry or double vision
  • Lightheadedness or dizziness
  • Changes in your thinking (confusion, hallucinations/seeing things that aren’t there, delirium/changes in their attention)
  • Change in personality (patients not acting like themselves)
  • Problems speaking or finding words, slower speech
  • Seizure-like activity (body shaking/tremors, blank stare but not talking) 
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Do not use the Patient Gateway online portal for any urgent concerns or questions.

The patient may need to be admitted to the hospital to treat these symptoms.

If your doctor does not respond within 20 minutes, page again.

When in doubt, always call your care team.
  • In an emergency, including loss of consciousness, sudden chest pain, or sudden trouble breathing, always call 911.
  • Then, page your Dana-Farber physician.
  • ALWAYS have your CAR T-Cell therapy wallet card with you and present it to any medical professional you see.
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