crazy bloodwork

Kazenmax said:

I understand how scary that

I understand how scary that sounds but it could also mean you are dehydrated. I recall having these kinds of bad counts during chemo. My onc never does CEA. He said that it was a poor indicator for rectal cancer.

Im not a doctor but I think that the chemo can cause these numbers. What did your doc say?

i hope theres a simple explanation. Good luck.

k

It worries me for sure.  Yes, you are probably right.  I did some research last night and found a few papers that stated chloride and sodium generally go hand in hand and can point to dehydration.  My onc has never mentioned it as a concern and those two have been high for 2 months, smh.  I wish he was an agressive onc.  He always just says "your #s look good."  Uhm, no they don't!  So anyway, drinking gatorade for next 9 days until I go back for chemo, so we'll see what those 2 #s are like then.  Its so frustrating.

SandiaBuddy said:

?

I am in the dark on all of this, but I do know that chemo throws everything off. . .  I hope your oncologist provides information and things continue in the right direction for you.

You are so right.  It does and worries me when the #s are way up or way down.  If there is an easy/preventive fix so you don't wind up with organ damage due to chemo then I need to know about it.  My onc is to conservative and offers nothing.

abita said:

How much elevation? And did

How much elevation? And did it go up? There are some that are a bit high on my bloodwork, and he always tells me my bloodwork is good. I think unfortunately, chemo is poison. There is also the possibilty that the tumors cause the bad bloodwork. Does your hospital portal have a messaging system? I would send a quick note and ask if you should be concerned about those specific issues.  They don't talk about it, but they defiinitely closely monitor any indicators of damage to organs. My doctor once said something in response to my question as to whether I could have a glass of wine at my reunion that made it very clear that he was not treating just my tumors that it is his job to keep me alive and with a good quality of life. So, my whole point in saying that is I know how scary seeing high numbers can be, but that a good oncologist is watching all that as well as they want to keep us as good as they can in addition to killing the tumors. You should definitely ask, hey, I see the numbers are high, should I be concerned?

Unlike Kazenmax, my CEA count was a good indicator of my tumors. Not as much with the recurrence though. It stays in the good range, but gets larger when the tumors do and smaller when they are shrinking. To be fair, my original liver tumors were gigantic so of course the numbr was high.

I agree about the water. But no scientific basis or professional telling me. In my own head, which is not a good source, I feel like chemo is a poison, so I should drink water according to guidelines to help my kidneys and liver.

I am a vegan. When I was due for surgeries, my surgeon and the hospital nutritionist had me eat lots of protein for healing. I curtailed that, but recently a nurse told me I should still make sure to get enough protein so I heal from the chemo. Again, I have no basis as to whether that is good advice or not. 

chloride was highest on 24th bloodwork at 111

sodium was 147

alt up to 19 from 14

ast up to 28 from 14 ( alt should be equal to ast or higher then ast from what I read)

monocytes up to 13.3 (need to research this one.  I have no idea what monocytes do)

lymphocytes up to 10.5 (a super good thing.  been eating lots of orange foods to get that up.)

abita said:

Chloride normal range is up

Chloride normal range is up to 109, so you are out of normal range, but not by much

Sodium is 143, so agian, high, but not crazy high

My lab report has your AST and ALT to be in normal range. How far over normal range does yours have it as? I wonder if we are on different scales. 

alt 2-38

ast 9-33

My worry is they have always been 14 and 14, then now a jump apart.

Ruthmomto4 said:

Your liver enzymes

Will be effected by chemo those are very tiny elevations I would not even give them a second though.  Still in normal range and yes it's fine your liver will fix those after chemo is over. All those things you are watching will fluctuate from chemo. I have my husband's liver values memorized from ages back and he has liver damage from surgeries and a bile duct tumor. His ast & alt have gine into the 200-300 range to rebound back to normal. Don't lose a second of time worrying on these numbers it's fine! 

Thank you for your reply.  I knew someone here was a liver expert.  Yes, it is spelled stent.  I'm still learning.  I worry which is a natural thing and need to verify everything so I don't slip thru the cracks with my cancer.