Not well enough for treatment

sarahb74
sarahb74 Member Posts: 81 Member
in Ovarian Cancer #1
I went for my 2nd chemo infusion this morning to be told by the oncologist that there is a problem with my kidneys and my treatment will be postponed for a few days until the results of my blood tests are back. Also she seems to think I'm not fully recovered from an infection I'd had whilst in hospital a couple of weeks ago. I have to go back on Thursday and will see then if I can have chemo, either a different dose or perhaps a different chemo (I'm on carbo taxol at the moment). My CA125 level also seemed frighteningly high. On 22nd December when I first went for draining it was just over a 1000. By 31st Feb it had jumped to 2611. That seems an awful lot in just 6 weeks. I'm getting a bit (lot) worried here!

Comments

  • nancy591
    nancy591 Member Posts: 1,027 Member
    #2
    ca125
    Dont forget that inflammation can lead to a high ca125. Are you having any symptoms? I am still fighting my first recurrence and have been on chemo since January 2010. Most recently I've had huge ca125 jummps as well

    GOOD LUCK!
  • sarahb74
    sarahb74 Member Posts: 81 Member
    #3
    nancy591 said:

    ca125
    Dont forget that inflammation can lead to a high ca125. Are you having any symptoms? I am still fighting my first recurrence and have been on chemo since January 2010. Most recently I've had huge ca125 jummps as well

    GOOD LUCK!

    chemo
    Thanks for answering. The only symptoms I have are desperate thirst, mild nausea, constant trips to the toilet and excessive tiredness. I suppose more than anything I'm just scared I'm going to be taken off carbo/taxol because it worked so well for me before.
  • sarahb74
    sarahb74 Member Posts: 81 Member
    #4
    nancy591 said:

    ca125
    Dont forget that inflammation can lead to a high ca125. Are you having any symptoms? I am still fighting my first recurrence and have been on chemo since January 2010. Most recently I've had huge ca125 jummps as well

    GOOD LUCK!

    chemo
    Is there any way to delete posts? This one went on twice. Don't know why
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #5
    Sorry if I don't have the
    Sorry if I don't have the details down correctly, but it sounds like you were in remission for a year and are now being treated for your first recurrence, and have been prescribed Carbo/Taxol, the same combo you received as first line treatment. Is that right?

    Any infection can cause a spike in your CA125, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. My CA125 at the time of my diagnosis was 4,000 and Leesa G's was 10,000 (she is such an over-achiever). Anyway, the CA125 number is not an indication of how much cancer you have.

    Some of the chemo drugs are processed via the kidneys, so your doctor might indeed want to switch you to another one. There are plenty of them out there, so I'm sure they can find something that will zap the cancer, without killing off your vital organs. Sometimes that's a trick, in anc of itself. My doctor told me the idea is to pump enough poison in us to kill the cancer, but not so much that it kills the patient.

    Let us know what your doctor says when you go back on Thursday.

    Carlene
  • kayandok
    kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
    #6
    Kidney count
    My kidney count was up (Creatinine - CRE normal should be 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams) early on in treatment. In my case there was a tumor pushing on the ureter (seen on the CT) causing a blockage and the kidney count to elevate. They put in a stent, I lost 6 liters of water immediately, and kidney began functioning. I still have a stent in (goes from the bladder to the kidney) and although the tumor is no longer there, an adhesion has developed and it is safer to just keep the stent in. I have had a lot of chemo and although they always check the CRE, it has remained stable, and not interferred with getting chemo.

    My friend's kidney shut down evetually from a blockage on the ureter, but she continued receiving chemo with only one kidney functioning.

    I hope that your kidney problem is something that can be resolved, and you can continue our carbo/taxol.

    Take care,
    kathleen
  • sarahb74
    sarahb74 Member Posts: 81 Member
    #7
    kayandok said:

    Kidney count
    My kidney count was up (Creatinine - CRE normal should be 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams) early on in treatment. In my case there was a tumor pushing on the ureter (seen on the CT) causing a blockage and the kidney count to elevate. They put in a stent, I lost 6 liters of water immediately, and kidney began functioning. I still have a stent in (goes from the bladder to the kidney) and although the tumor is no longer there, an adhesion has developed and it is safer to just keep the stent in. I have had a lot of chemo and although they always check the CRE, it has remained stable, and not interferred with getting chemo.

    My friend's kidney shut down evetually from a blockage on the ureter, but she continued receiving chemo with only one kidney functioning.

    I hope that your kidney problem is something that can be resolved, and you can continue our carbo/taxol.

    Take care,
    kathleen

    I didn't get chemo
    I didn't get chemo after all. I had to have a CT scan, bloods tests etc. Apparently my blood work shows that my kidneys are improving and the scan shows several pockets of fluid which are pressing against my organs and what they think is a large cyst which is pressing against my bladder. I'm booked in for my carbo/taxol on Monday morning. Does anyone know whether delaying chemo for a week or so makes any difference to the outcome? I hope not
  • anicca
    anicca Member Posts: 334 Member
    #8
    sarahb74 said:

    I didn't get chemo
    I didn't get chemo after all. I had to have a CT scan, bloods tests etc. Apparently my blood work shows that my kidneys are improving and the scan shows several pockets of fluid which are pressing against my organs and what they think is a large cyst which is pressing against my bladder. I'm booked in for my carbo/taxol on Monday morning. Does anyone know whether delaying chemo for a week or so makes any difference to the outcome? I hope not

    I think it's fine.
    I think delaying a week is not a problem. I asked to delay round 4 of 6 so I could have an extra week to go camping last summer, and was told 1 week was fine.

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