Allergic Reaction to Carboplatin, Question on Length of Time for Genomic Testing

pinky104

I had UPSC stage IVb in 2010.  After surgery, I had 6 rounds of Carboplatin and Taxol, which I handled fairly well.  I did have a blood transfusion of packed red blood cells halfway through for shortness of breath and I had peripheral neuropathy.  I never had any nausea and vomiting because of the Emend I was given.  My cancer came back this year and I was put on Carboplatin again, but with Gemzar this time.  I started my fifth round of chemo on Wed.   After having the usual pre-meds and the Emend, I had tje Gemzar, and then the Carboplatin was hung.  Most of the bag was into me already when I started feeling poorly.  My husband had gone and gotten me a grilled cheese, bacon, and tomato sandwich, which got my reflux going.  I don't normally eat bacon anymore, but he didn't think about that.  I sat up trying to burp and then I noticed I was feeling palpitations.  I'd also sneezed once and then felt like my head was going to explode.  My scalp had itched three different times (under my wig) and my foot had itched once.  I kept wondering if I was imagining the palpitations.  The nurse walked in a few minutes later and I told her that I felt funny.  She told me my face was red, and she immediately took my blood pressure.  It was down significantly from what it had been when I'd seen my oncologist earlier.  She took my pulse and it was up to 116.  She left to call the oncologist and I went to the bathroom.  I had a little bit of diarrhea, but I noticed the worst thing was that my thighs were beet red.  Before I went in there, the nurse had stopped the IV and the doctor agreed that I shouldn't finish it. The nurse told me that it seems like the bone marrow can only take so much of the Carboplatin, and when it's reached its limit, it just shuts down.  I'm due to have the Gemzar alone next week and then have a week off, so the doctor said he'd have 3 weeks to decide what to do with my sixth round of chemo, which may or may not be my last. There is a possiblility that I will have the Carboplatin again in conjunction with some Benadryl to prevent the allergy from bothering me again.  I would guess that he might need to get insurance approval for any other chemo he might start, which would probably be a pain for just one dose of it, and I could also be allergic to whatever else he might try.  I do have a number of allergies to other drugs (antibiotics. mostly).

 I found out from the nurse that my CA-125 was down to 7.9, which is pretty close to where it was in 2010 when I finished my chemo.  I was running in the low 7's and 6's for about 3 years after that.  A PET scan on July 21 showed my cancer was about a third of its original size, so the chemo is definitely working. 

My hemoglobin was down to 7.7 this time, so the oncologist/hematologist had also ordered two units of blood to be transfused.  The nurse gave me some meds for that when she came back in, including a Claritin, which she later told me would stop the allergic reaction, although a bit more slowly than Benadryl would have.  It actually worked pretty quickly and I felt much better.

I found out this week that my GYN/onc (a different doctor from my oncologist/hematologist in another city) had ordered my genomic testing on 7/18, sooner than he had planned to do it (he had originally told me that it couldn't be done until the end of my second course of chemo and he wasn't sure it could be done for uterine cancer).  I'm wondering how long it will be before the results come back.  I'm not seeing that doctor until 10/16, and wonder if the results will be in before I am due to have round 6.  It would be nice to know if another chemo could be substituted for the Carboplatin which would work as well or better.  For those of you who have had genomic testing, how long did it take for the results to come back?  I'd call the doctor, but his office staff isn't always cooperative in getting messages to him.  It all depends upon who answers the phone. It's a very busy office, so I'm sure that's part of the problem.

I'm really surprised that it took 11 treatments before this allergy started.  i know most of you who have had reactions have had them much sooner.  I thought it might be nice for those of you currently going thru chemo to know the symptoms of a reaction in case you develop one from this drug.  I'd appreciate any help those of you who have had genomic testing can provide me about the time it takes to get results.  

takingcontrol58

Genomic Testing Timeline

Pinky,

My tumor specimen was received by Foundation One January 30, 2015- the report is dated February 12, 2015.   About two weeks.

Hope this is helpful.

Takingcontrol58

 

pinky104

takingcontrol 58

Yes, that's very helpful.  It might even be back by now. Thank you so much for looking up your dates.  I am also going through Foundation One.