Yesterday, Mama Pham had a very bad reaction to the Intrathecal Chemotherapy (IT) done at St. Joseph's Hospital by Dr. Joseph Tison. She had two rounds of IT done in the past at City of Hope with little issues. This time, she had a painful sensation at the bottom of her spine that caused her to have body spasm for about two hours. Dr. Tison by once she developed the reactions, but said he did not know the cause and stated he had never seen that kind of reaction in the patient. He was unfamiliar with the chemotherapy drug (Methotrexate) that he injected in her. My mom had a similar tingling sensation in the past, but it only lasted about 10 minutes. The nurses and I triaged the situation and concluded that it probably was just an irritated nerve. We hypothesized that the liquid that was injected irritated a nerve and caused the tingling. This meant that as the liquid slowly dispersed through the Central Nervous System, the tingling and irritation would go away. After about two hours, the tingling did indeed go away and my mom was completely fine. I do not know for sure if the irritated nerve was the actual issue, but the series of events seem to lead to that. I was very thankful for good, knowledgeable, experienced nurses that day!The next intrathecal chemo will happen about 4 - 6 weeks from now. We will have it done at City of Hope for continuity and quality of care.