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← Return to Chemo with bad kidneys?
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Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (5)
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Welcome, @earless. I'm tagging @gingerw on this discussion. While she has a different type of cancer (myeloma), she is familiar with dealing with chemotherapy and kidney disease.
See these two related discussions:
- Chemotherapy and Dialysis: Looking for others who have had both https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chemotherapy-and-dialysis/
- Kidney function and medications https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/kidney-function-and-medications/
@earless, some chemotherapy drugs are more taxing on the kidneys than others. Is your oncologist working with your nephrologist to find a chemo combo that would work best for you?
Replies to "Welcome, @earless. I'm tagging @gingerw on this discussion. While she has a different type of cancer..."
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@colleenyoung, thank you for tagging me!
@earless This is a good discussion, and the conversations mentioned were started by me in the time before I started chemotherapy and dialysis. Chemo started Aug 2021, I had my fistula placed for dialysis Dec 2021, PD catheter placed Aug 2022, and started PD dialysis Sept 2022.
I sincerely hope your cancer management team and nephrologist are in communication with each other. If they are not, insist on it! That was a critical factor for me. Both my oncologist and nephrologist talk to each other, even now, and it helped figure out the best course of action to pick medications that would not affect my kidneys so bad. We all know at some point dialysis was going to happen. We chose to go "low and slow" with the chemo just for that reason.
There certainly should be no opposition to you getting a second opinion for adding in chemotherapy. If the surgeries were in the last 2 years, why are they only now suggesting the chemo? What changed their minds that is wasn't brought up at the time of surgery?
I commend you for thinking of the big picture! I know you have posted in the kidney and bladder group about contrast procedures with low eGFR.
Ginger