HELP! suspended treatment (nephrology)

[Marie25]

DH was scheduled for his 6th cycle today. Got a call from the local oncologist and between her and his nephrologist they have "suspended treatment untill further notice" In the meantime I know he will be enjoying his side effect free days but really hope it isn't put off longer than a week. They did this because his kidney function dropped since he began treatment. He went from kidney disease stage 3B to stage 4. Obviously I understand the concern and we don't want him in kidney failure but isn't the cancer worse.. we don't want that spreading either!! I'm not sure why they couldn't just lower the oxaliplatin again versus skipping treatment altogether. Does anyone know of chemo options that are totally safe for the kidneys? Any help is appreciated.

[e_enyedy]

Unfortunately, Oxaliplatin is one of the least nephrotoxic chemo agent for CRC. I looked into this when I had renal issues caused by Avastin.
Perhaps you should ask your Oncologist.

[Siti]

My husbands situation was a little different but the doctor delayed his second cycle by 1 week because he was hospitalised due to high fever and severe abdominal cramps. We were very concerned obviously but the doctor assured us that the delay doesn’t make a different in terms of effectiveness of the outcome but what’s more important is that he can tolerate the rest of the treatment.

What we did was proactively scheduled the next cycle exactly 1 week from the initial date even tough the hospital didn’t have a slot allocated. It gave us reassurance that there’s a date rather than just “delayed until further notice”.

I hope this helps.

[claudine]

My husband's treatment has been delayed several times because of neutropenia, once by 2 weeks (so he went a month without treatment). It made absolutely no difference, his CEA levels stayed stable and cancer didn't progress

[ginabeewell]

I think it’s very rare for someone to get all the way through 12 cycles without delay. I had low platelets for my 9th cycle and they didn’t recover a week later; ended up skipping that cycle because I had surgery scheduled a few weeks later. I was freaked out but it was fine.

[natelaugh]

Have you try to ask to use only 5FU without oxaliplatin? My dad has kidney issues so nurse advise him to drink more water before blood test.

Nate.

[KimT]

Have they mentioned dialysis? In my experience as a nurse, stage 4 kidney disease requires dialysis. They may not be able to resume chemo until dialysis is begun.

[Marie25]

Have they mentioned dialysis? In my experience as a nurse, stage 4 kidney disease requires dialysis. They may not be able to resume chemo until dialysis is begun.

Nope, his nephrologist says dialysis is not needed untill stage 5, when the function is around 10%. he is in the high 20s. Also we would attempt to skip that altogether by me giving him one of my kidneys.

[Marie25]

Have you try to ask to use only 5FU without oxaliplatin? My dad has kidney issues so nurse advise him to drink more water before blood test.

Nate.

We will ask about doing that. Thank you!