Elevated enzymes after FIRST chemo round!

dianetavegia
dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I had blood work and my 2nd chemo this past Wednesday. The oncology nurse called an hour ago to say my liver enzymes are elevated after the FIRST chemo and I have to have blood work before my next round. Also, my potassium is low so they called in meds for that.

I have my chemo over a 2 hour period and wear home a pump for 46 hours, every other week.

What should I expect?

I've had CT scans of my liver in Jan. It was seen in a scan of my lungs in Feb. before chemo began. I DO have gallstones, which showed on the CT scan and ultrasound done in February. All tests have been normal other than gallstones.

Stage 3 colon cancer with 5 out of 14 lymph nodes showing a 'few cancer cells'. Age 58 and in otherwise excellent health.

Comments

  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #2
    welcome
    i cant give you any advice on the chemo for i am to start mine tomorrow.i have taken xeloda which was chemo in pill form to shrink my tumor along with radiation, i have had my surgeries and 5 of 10 nodes showed cancer cells,i am stage 3 also. i will be starting oxy and 5fu for 6 months,this board has been the best for me.you can make a lot of friends here as we are on the same journey,sorry i wasnt much help,just wanted to welcome you Godbless.....johnnybegood
  • beachinmom
    beachinmom Member Posts: 73
    #3
    May be the gallstones
    I don't know if I was tested all along for high liver enzymes or not. But, I did have a gall bladder attack during chemo, and had HIGH liver enzymes after that. I continued w/ high ast/alt and just recently still had high levels 6 weeks after my last chemo. I saw my gi this past week as directed by my onc and he believe my high levels are from my gall bladder which has stones as well. So, I am scheduled to have gall bladder removed in a couple weeks.

    Just thought I would mention this as a possibility for you to consider. Might be worth mentioning to your onc. I honestly don't know what they will do because of the high levels. Mine were just watched until chemo was over as my pet was negative for metastic disease---sometimes high levels are found w/ liver mets.

    Another cause of high liver enzymes can be fatty liver which I have as well.

    Hope this helps...
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #4
    beachinmom said:

    May be the gallstones
    I don't know if I was tested all along for high liver enzymes or not. But, I did have a gall bladder attack during chemo, and had HIGH liver enzymes after that. I continued w/ high ast/alt and just recently still had high levels 6 weeks after my last chemo. I saw my gi this past week as directed by my onc and he believe my high levels are from my gall bladder which has stones as well. So, I am scheduled to have gall bladder removed in a couple weeks.

    Just thought I would mention this as a possibility for you to consider. Might be worth mentioning to your onc. I honestly don't know what they will do because of the high levels. Mine were just watched until chemo was over as my pet was negative for metastic disease---sometimes high levels are found w/ liver mets.

    Another cause of high liver enzymes can be fatty liver which I have as well.

    Hope this helps...

    Thanks for the welcome and replies!
    I wondered if it might be my gall bladder. The night before my 2nd treatment, I was awake for 3 hours with chest pain and a backache. I thought I'd swallowed air and just needed to burp. I didn't mention it to the doctor but will when I see him again.

    The plan has been to remove my gall bladder as soon as chemo is completed. No mention was made of fatty liver.

    Diane
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #5
    beachinmom said:

    May be the gallstones
    I don't know if I was tested all along for high liver enzymes or not. But, I did have a gall bladder attack during chemo, and had HIGH liver enzymes after that. I continued w/ high ast/alt and just recently still had high levels 6 weeks after my last chemo. I saw my gi this past week as directed by my onc and he believe my high levels are from my gall bladder which has stones as well. So, I am scheduled to have gall bladder removed in a couple weeks.

    Just thought I would mention this as a possibility for you to consider. Might be worth mentioning to your onc. I honestly don't know what they will do because of the high levels. Mine were just watched until chemo was over as my pet was negative for metastic disease---sometimes high levels are found w/ liver mets.

    Another cause of high liver enzymes can be fatty liver which I have as well.

    Hope this helps...

    My Onc....
    ....never has mentioned my liver enzymes to me, I woner if that's good or bad..lol..I guess no news is good news..

    Are you doing the FOLFIRI treatment? that's what I'm on, and like you, I am also at the fusion center for a few hours, and then they do this 5 minute IV push with the 5fu, before connecting it to me with the fanny pack, while I suck on ice chips as they do this, they said this helps prevent mouth sores. I also wear the fanny pack for 46 hours, I go in every other Wednesday, and the home health nurse disconnects me and flushes me on a Friday, then I feel good, but just really wiped out for about 4 days after. I feel kind of zombieish, and slow, and my speech is alittle low and slurry I think, to me it is, but my family said it's fine.

    While on the fanny pack I take some really good anti-nausea meds, and try drinking alot of water, the more you drink, the more the chemo will flush out of your system is what the nurses told me, stay hydrated, but don't try pushing yourself too hard either, you will be exhausted..it's funny, sometimes I lay in bed and even start doing leg exercises and arm exercises just to keep my body moving alittle from being too sore also, since it gets achy. But, you'll feel yourself bouncing back after a few days from being disconnected, what sucks is, is just when you start feeling really good, it's time to go back and get chemo again..it kind of gets routine to me lol...
  • polarprincess
    polarprincess Member Posts: 202
    #6
    Shayenne said:

    My Onc....
    ....never has mentioned my liver enzymes to me, I woner if that's good or bad..lol..I guess no news is good news..

    Are you doing the FOLFIRI treatment? that's what I'm on, and like you, I am also at the fusion center for a few hours, and then they do this 5 minute IV push with the 5fu, before connecting it to me with the fanny pack, while I suck on ice chips as they do this, they said this helps prevent mouth sores. I also wear the fanny pack for 46 hours, I go in every other Wednesday, and the home health nurse disconnects me and flushes me on a Friday, then I feel good, but just really wiped out for about 4 days after. I feel kind of zombieish, and slow, and my speech is alittle low and slurry I think, to me it is, but my family said it's fine.

    While on the fanny pack I take some really good anti-nausea meds, and try drinking alot of water, the more you drink, the more the chemo will flush out of your system is what the nurses told me, stay hydrated, but don't try pushing yourself too hard either, you will be exhausted..it's funny, sometimes I lay in bed and even start doing leg exercises and arm exercises just to keep my body moving alittle from being too sore also, since it gets achy. But, you'll feel yourself bouncing back after a few days from being disconnected, what sucks is, is just when you start feeling really good, it's time to go back and get chemo again..it kind of gets routine to me lol...

    i have had elevated liver
    i have had elevated liver enzymes throughout all of my treatments (i am currently on 9) and my doctor just considers it to be chemo induced hepatitis. I have had scans and everything and all is still clear. It has not caused me to delay treatment or anything. I remember from another post on here that several others have had this as well. Possibly yours willbe your gallbladder though.
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #7
    polarprincess said:

    i have had elevated liver
    i have had elevated liver enzymes throughout all of my treatments (i am currently on 9) and my doctor just considers it to be chemo induced hepatitis. I have had scans and everything and all is still clear. It has not caused me to delay treatment or anything. I remember from another post on here that several others have had this as well. Possibly yours willbe your gallbladder though.

    Thanks!
    I certainly didn't want to hear chemo would end because of this!

    Y'all are so nice! It's great to 'talk' to people who know what you're going through, feeling, not feeling, etc.

    Diane
  • marciah97
    marciah97 Member Posts: 1
    #8
    dianetavegia said:

    Thanks!
    I certainly didn't want to hear chemo would end because of this!

    Y'all are so nice! It's great to 'talk' to people who know what you're going through, feeling, not feeling, etc.

    Diane

    My liver enzymes were also elevated
    This occured after my fourth chemo treatment. It ended up being my gall bladder after going thru MRI, and Ultra Sounds (yes, I did have the nagging back pain and the indigestion). Since having lost a lot of weight previous to my diagnosis it was determined my weight loss and chemo treatment was attributed to the elevated levels. My Oncologist put me on Urisidil, a bile salt med that disolves gall stones. Eight months later my last CT scan showed no gall stones, and no symptoms, and no gall bladder surgery! Will cont on the Urisidil for a while, may take up to 2 years to disolve those little buggers.

    Good Luck!
    Marcia (4mo after Folfori chemo for stage iv accending colon cancer, CEA levels low, CT scans negative so far and feeling absolutely wonderful, walking 3-5mi a day, and exercing.)
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #9
    marciah97 said:

    My liver enzymes were also elevated
    This occured after my fourth chemo treatment. It ended up being my gall bladder after going thru MRI, and Ultra Sounds (yes, I did have the nagging back pain and the indigestion). Since having lost a lot of weight previous to my diagnosis it was determined my weight loss and chemo treatment was attributed to the elevated levels. My Oncologist put me on Urisidil, a bile salt med that disolves gall stones. Eight months later my last CT scan showed no gall stones, and no symptoms, and no gall bladder surgery! Will cont on the Urisidil for a while, may take up to 2 years to disolve those little buggers.

    Good Luck!
    Marcia (4mo after Folfori chemo for stage iv accending colon cancer, CEA levels low, CT scans negative so far and feeling absolutely wonderful, walking 3-5mi a day, and exercing.)

    Wow, well....
    I lost about 20 lbs in 2 months and am not that big anyhow.

    My enzymes were PERFECT this past Monday and then Tuesday I had a horrific pain in my right side and up under my breast for 5 hours...... and enzymes were up on Wednesday. I go Tuesday for another blood test.

    I'll ask about the bile salt and hopefully I can go without gall bladder surgery and get on with my treatments!

    Thanks Marcia, for letting me know! I'm walking also. Did you see the Dana Farber study that says a Stage III woman can increase her survival by another 55 % by exercising like walking? You take your chances, let's use 75%, sub. from 100. 25% X .55% + 13.75. Add 75 + 13.75 for your 'chances'. No tests were done for Stage IV and walking. YET.

    Nice to meet you and thanks for the help!
    Diane in Georgia

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