Bilirubin increase/ liver functions not great

abbey712

So my Dad went in for his third treatment of Irinotecan today. We were felling pretty good as when we went back for the second treatment his bilirubin at gone right back into normal range and his liver functions had improved. Today we got set up and had the saline and anti nausea stuff pushed through the IV, then they took a look at his latest set of bloods and noticed the bilirubin had gone back up again. I think we measure it diffrently here in New Zealand but it had gone a couple of points over the normal range. Also all his liver function tests had worsened slightly too. Although his white cell count was fine the doctors decided not to go ahead with the chemo today. His oncologist feels it could either be toxicity in the liver from the chemo which may just need a little longer to resolve, or a sign the chemo is no longer working. Of course we are hoping for the first outcome! It seems so hard to believe that after such an amazing response from the first dose that it would no longer be working but according to the nurse it is "not outside the realm of possiblity". He will have his bloods done again in one week and they will see from that whether they are going to continue or not.

So today we are all feeling a bit disheartened. It's funny sometimes how the chemo you hate so much is something it turns out you really want when you're told you can't have it.

Hope everyone else out there is doing well and keeping strong.

Abbey

xx

msccolon

good thoughts!
I'm sorry to hear your father is having such problems with his blood levels, hope they will resolve and he can get back to it! I know what you mean, the chemo sucks, but when you're told you CAN'T have it, it gets to be scary! Keep us posted, ok?
mary