Hi everyone

My mother is going through the last week of her 6 week radiation. She has one more chemo session left (last of the 5). She was complaining of foot pain earlier this week and yesterday the doctor said she had blood clots (DVT) so they are giving her blood thinner - series of 5 shots. Does anyone know more about why chemo causes blood clots and what we can do perhaps to help the condition.

Thank you!

Helping my mother, Age 58, SCC Stage IV retromolar trigone (behind wisdom tooth), non smoker, never drinks, Surgery on May 3rd - removed part of mandible - titanium plate added, 26 nodes removed - all negative, cancer found on mandible and nerve, margins negative, IMRT (5000 - 6000 rads) x 30 and 5 cisplatin.

I haven't heard of people having blood clots as a result of chemo, doesn't mean it can't happen though. I would have a long talk with your Oncologist over that one. Maybe it's a byproduct of the surgery.

sspr

I developed DVT when I had my PICC line in before I had the port placed. I do not believe that it was the chemo that caused the clots (just my own gut feeling) but more of a result of the PICC line.

Like Gary said, talk to the doctor.

I can tell you after the Coumadin treatments, the clots in my arm went away fairly quick.

Gary and Kevin

Thanks for you responses. She went to her oncologist this morning and they said the viscosity of the blood increases during chemo and therefore more chances of DVT. She got a dose of blood thinners (5 days intravenous - not sure of name of drug) and was still complaining of pain in leg. The doctor called off the last chemo and said they will give her 3 more shots of the IV blood thinner and increase the warfarin dose from 1 to 1 1/2 tablets per day. They will check her again in 3 days. I hope this is not something to be very concerned about.

Thanks for your responses.

sspr,

I had a blood clot in my calf during chemo. I was told that cancer patients are susceptible to clots because they are getting stuck with needles so frequently. Every time you are stuck with a needle there is apparently the possiblity that a particle can be released into your bloodstream and form a clot. I had to stay on blood thinner (warfarin) for 6 months. At first I didn't understand that I was supposed to renew the prescription and the nurse freaked out when she realized I had stopped taking it. So make sure your mother understands she needs to take the correct dose and she takes it for as long as she is supposed to. Rainey

Jack developed a blood clot in his arm, which can happen with ports, PICC lines, or just accessing veins for chemo. It's common to be on the blood thinner medication for 4-6 months and they continuously adjust the dose based on the blood work so don't be concerned about that. It's a sliding scale concept to reach therapuetic levels but the medication works well and she should be fine. Regards JoAnne

Rainey and JoAnne

Thanks for your responses. They did tell her that she will have to stay on the thinner for about 3-6 months. They will need to check dosage based on the blood tests. They initially prescribed 3 days intavenous shots and today they increased that to 3 more.

Thanks again.

Helping my mother, Age 58, SCC Stage IV retromolar trigone (behind wisdom tooth), non smoker, never drinks, Surgery on May 3rd - removed part of mandible - titanium plate added, 26 nodes removed - all negative, cancer found on mandible and nerve, margins negative, IMRT (5000 - 6000 rads) x 30 and 5 cisplatin

sspr,

Don't take the blood clots lightly! Couple of things I wanted to share with you. My husband, Kenny had only 1 Cisplatin treatment and that was stopped due to many complications. However he did receive his full 44x of radiation. The one thing we found out is that the radiation can cause the neck arteries/veins to be much more susceptible to clots (an unfortuante side affect of the life-saving radiation). We found out the hard way when my 52 year old husband (other than the rare cancer he is extremely healthy) had a stroke 8 months after his radiation stopped.

I urge you to keep your MO involved in the blood clot issue - but also let your RO know what is going on. Blood thinners now could save her problems down the road.

Hang in there!
Carol

Carol,

Thanks for this information about the Neck veins and arteries and strokes..

I keep learning something every time I come here.

Take care,
Diane

Carol

Thank you so much for the advice and information. We will be sure to pay extra attention to this and keep the doctors informed.

Thanks!