Reminder to recheck the weight/height on your record before chemo

abrub
abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Do you double-check your weight and height on record with your dr before chemo?

I now know of several people, myself included, whose chemo doses were incorrect because someone recorded the wrong height and/or weight into the medical records. In my case, the intake nurse put my temperature as my weight in kg (97.4) and I was given my first dose of chemo based on someone my height (5'2") who weighed 215 pounds, when I weighed 130! Fortunately we caught the error when I went for my second chemo.  When my dr discovered the error at my second chemo (Folfox + Avastin) they dropped the Oxaliplatin and Avastin for that round, as it would have been too much.

I just learned of a friend who only now discovered the error that her first 9 rounds of chemo was based on someone 10" taller and 15 pounds heavier. The infusion nurse caught an 100 pound error at her first chemo before it was administered.  However, the weight still wasn't correct, nor was the height.  Both are important, as some chemo drugs are based on weight only, others on body surface mass, which is based on a ht/wt algorithm.

I recommend that you learn your height and weight in metric, and ask your dr or nurse before chemo what height/weight that they have on record, so that you can ensure that you are given the correct chemo. As bad as it is go get too much, it is also a problem to get too little.  (They use the height/weight from your first chemo visit.)

I fear that this kind of error is a lot more common than we'd like to believe.

Alice

 

Comments

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    #2
    Thank you!

    This information is much appreciated. 

    I personally hope never to see any more chemo, but regardless, I think it would still be important to keep a keen eye on your own medical records. 

    Trubrit

  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #3
    Always with the numbers

    When my sister was on chemo, they did height and weight prior to every treatment, and it was based on those numbers that the chemo was prepared.  We kept our own record as well.

    If ones onc doesn't check that often, then I would suggest asking them to recheck periodically during treatment, as things do change (not so much height but the weight certainly can). 

    It is very concerning to have the sort of "mistake" that you describe. 

    As always, the patient and caregiver must be vigilant in all medical things.

    Marie who loves kitties

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #4
    Lovekitties said:

    Always with the numbers

    When my sister was on chemo, they did height and weight prior to every treatment, and it was based on those numbers that the chemo was prepared.  We kept our own record as well.

    If ones onc doesn't check that often, then I would suggest asking them to recheck periodically during treatment, as things do change (not so much height but the weight certainly can). 

    It is very concerning to have the sort of "mistake" that you describe. 

    As always, the patient and caregiver must be vigilant in all medical things.

    Marie who loves kitties

    The nurse did height and weight

    and wrote it down correctly.  But she input it into the computer system incorrectly, resulting in my receiving a serious overdose of chemo.  Don't just look at what they write down; have them read the numbers back to you from the computer system.  My friend found out herself when she went through her patient portal, and saw that the numbers were way off.  She had 9 cycles of chemo based on the wrong info (because they use the initial ht/wt for the whole chemo series.

  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #5
    abrub said:

    The nurse did height and weight

    and wrote it down correctly.  But she input it into the computer system incorrectly, resulting in my receiving a serious overdose of chemo.  Don't just look at what they write down; have them read the numbers back to you from the computer system.  My friend found out herself when she went through her patient portal, and saw that the numbers were way off.  She had 9 cycles of chemo based on the wrong info (because they use the initial ht/wt for the whole chemo series.

    Height, weight and tolerance

    Height, weight and tolerance

    My grandmother was 4'10 (and shorter as she aged). She weighed less than 90 pounds.

    She always got sick from her prescribed medications and suffered side effects and problems unrelated to her illness(es).

    We finally realized after she died (age 90+), that her physicians had always prescribed adult doses for her. She was the size of an average 8 year old, adult or not. The dosages were never adjusted for her size and weight.

    We have to be our own advocate; we have to yell and scream if we have to, to get attention paid to the details.......

    Or we suffer the consequences of poor doctoring.

    Sometimes the simple things are overlooked so easily.

    Good post, Alice!

    Be well,

    John

  • lizard44
    lizard44 Member Posts: 409 Member
    #6
    Good info, thanks!

     I guess I'm lucky in that my oncologist was so concerned about my weight at the beginning of treatment that she mentions any little fluctuations at nearly every visit. I was down to about 80  pounds when all this began, but did gain a few pounds in between  finishing  the first  regimen of chemo and the chemo-radiation- all the way up to  83lbs and  I've stayed  within  two or three pounds  of that weight throughout treatment. I'm sure if she suddenly saw on my chart that I had ballooned up to 90 or 100 lbs. she'd ask for a re-check. 

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #7
    lizard44 said:

    Good info, thanks!

     I guess I'm lucky in that my oncologist was so concerned about my weight at the beginning of treatment that she mentions any little fluctuations at nearly every visit. I was down to about 80  pounds when all this began, but did gain a few pounds in between  finishing  the first  regimen of chemo and the chemo-radiation- all the way up to  83lbs and  I've stayed  within  two or three pounds  of that weight throughout treatment. I'm sure if she suddenly saw on my chart that I had ballooned up to 90 or 100 lbs. she'd ask for a re-check. 

    My dr tracked my wt, but

    My dr tracked my wt, but looked at what the nurse handed him, not always what had been input into the computer. The instructions for my chemo were sent thru the computer,  and thus had the wrong wt attached..

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