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← Return to Chemo with bad kidneys?
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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
Replies to "@colleenyoung, thank you for tagging me! @earless This is a good discussion, and the conversations mentioned..."
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Ginger, Sorry I didn’t make it clear but I had three surgeries. the first two were followed up with radiation, Then 1 1/2 years later I they found a new and more aggressive tumor in the same general area as my first surgery which was performed just a few weeks ago and all cancer was removed with at least 2mm margins. Will only have 20 sessions of radiation because the area has been radiated before. I will have my radiation simulation tomorrow and I am to meet with anther doctor about chemo next week. All of my medical is done at Mayo so there is pretty good communication between departments but I get frustrated because there is so much going on and so many different doctors that it’s hard to keep it all straight in my head. Anyway what I am now doing is trying to find out just how much harm the chemo will cause my kidneys because if there is good chance that it would put me on dialysis I will refuse the chemo and just take my chances.
Good for you for being able to handle everything at once it just seems impossible to me.