I'm going to the lab today to fill an order for blood work that the surgeon at Sloan asked me to get before my G-Tube surgery Monday.

I asked my local GP if there was anything else we should we add to the blood work prior to starting radiation, chemo, etc. He said he has no idea.

I thought maybe we should do something to establish a baseline and wondered what would be good to check...

CBC (white & red blood cells) etc?

I have no idea Michael. I had a complete blood test plus Aids and Hep.C before they started on me. Good thing since they found the diabedes (which I never had before not even a month beofre) and the elevated cholestrol which mine was always normal before too.

Good luck with your coming treatment. I am happy to say I have 29 down and 4 to go. I am in need of a rest too I can tell ya.

God bless,
Barb~

With me they allways ran 2 tubes and one was a CBC but cant remember the other. But they still will do blood work the morning of your chemo regardless of when you had a previous one done. I tried that to speed up the process with no luck. Good luck to you

Congrats Barb!

You're almost there!! I thought they stopped for a while, are you resumed now?

Eitherway, it must be nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Bob, you must known me :-)

I'm always trying to speed things along, but with Drs it doesn't usually work :p

I am confused why your gp is ordering these and not your oncologist. The oncologist typically becomes the PCP until you are out of the woods from a blood chemistry perspective. In case you don't know, your basic "team" should consist of:

1. Oncologist
2. Radiation Oncologist
3. Head & Neck Surgeon or ENT
4. Nutitrionist

The above folks you should see weekly during treatment.

Your extended team are:

1. Radiologist

2. Radiology Technician(s)

3. Advice nurse(s)

4. Chemotherapy nurses

They handle the day to day stuff (except the radiologist of course which is "as needed"

There is no gp in that list.

You need a creatinine clearance as well and they insisted on a Hep C test for me as well (which I tested positive for much to my surprise). That was a real downer finding that one out.

Hello Michael

Make sure your thyroid levels are recorded before you begin radiation. I was very hypothyroidic a few months after radiation but hadn't been tested beforehand so don't know which came first. Symptoms are easily mistaken for post-radiation woes and just prolonged my recovery.

Best wishes for your treatment, love from Helen

Gary, It's simply logistics since I'm back in Mendocino for a few days before returning to NY.

The local hospital won't accept Drs orders from an out-of-state Dr, (oh, yeah, you can bet I exploded all over them for that one!!) By law, you don't even HAVE to have a Dr's order to get your own blood drawn!!! It's just most labs have that policy in place to limit liability (read = Spread the Blame)... And of course, the insurance companies! (Don't get me started)

Either way, the local GP is such a goof ball, but at least he responds to my requests...

I WON'T be seeing him long term! Just every once in a while for things like this, and the EKG I'm getting this week, prior to the PEG tube surgery.

So, to answer your post, yes, the team is basically what you stated, although I haven't met a nutritionist yet, (most likely it will be surrouding the G Tube).

I'll ask for the HEP test, just to rule it out...Ouch! Sorry to hear about yours...must have been a shock, huh?

Do you take anything, or just watch your Liver profile?

Helen, as always, your insight and wishes are warmly received!! I'll get the Thyroid panel done too, what the heck?! It's going on a credit card anyway :-P

Ditto on the Thyroid tests and make them do the detailed test not just the basic test. I have spent countless days not feeling "right" since the radiation ended. It was 2 years after that the thyroid hormones were looked at (my request) and found to be severely hypothyroid. Without a target value based upom a pre-event test it was guesswork for many months (and continues to be) I regret this more than any other (mal)treatment I received. such a simple thing over looked by so many for so long.

Thanks Mark!

This is EXACTLY the kind of simple thing I want to avoid overlooking.

With so many Drs, (as part of the team), it spreads the responsibility and sometimes, it's easy to fall into the ever-human-trait of thinking "someone else will take care of it"...

It reminds me of another SIMPLE oversight I learned of recently: I decided I wanted to have my tumor checked for possibly chemo agents that are effective against it specifically. Unfortunately, since it was frozen by the surgeons path team, it destroyed the effectiveness of this type of testing and virtually destroyed my chances of using this amazing technology!

http://www.rational-t.com/about_us/about_rt.htm

Oh, well...Guess that's the good news...IF I ever get another tumor (recurrance) I can do that then :-P

(Let's hope and pray I never have that option)

Liver's fine - hummin' along. I don't mess with it and it don't mess with me. They check it every 6 months along with a TSH test (that Mark was talking about - and he is absolutely correct - you should have a baseline TSH test).

The hep C has been asymptomatic for over 30 years now. The Onc. says there are over 5 million undx'd cases out there - claims that hep C is the "new frontier" of medicine. They gave me an antibody screening first then followed it up with a DNA/PCR test which is much more accurate for verification.

Michael,

My oncologist has continued on as my PCP ever since my tongue cancer days 16 years ago. (The doctor who had previously been my GP was one of several MD's who had told me the ulcer on my tongue was nothing serious.) I see my oncologist at least twice a year for routine follow-ups, and I call him if anything else turns up that needs immediate attention. He typically provides referrals to any other specialists I may need and he almost always fits me into his schedule within a day or two. He has been very good about maintaining a complete file not only for his own work but also with reports from the various specialists he has referred me to (even those that are totally unrelated to my cancer experience), so I'm sure he has the best repository of any and all tests I've had during and since my treatment.

I hope you'll be able to find someone local who can fill this role for you and be attentive to whatever you will need for followup care.

Cathy

Well Micahel I still have 4 to go. The darn table would not work today so we all sat around an hour or two and then we all went home. Oh well I am aware the nasty affects will continue into the second week after treatment is finished so I may as well continue to take it one day at a time.

Naw. I never stopped. They wanted to because of the condition of my skin but I said nope just carry on to the end. I will deal. Then they gave me some triple antibiotic cream and between tha, the Vigilon pads and the Biafine it gets better everyday.

Have a great day!
Barb~

You are such a trooper Barb!!!

We'll have to celebrate when we're both done with the tx.

:-)

- Michael

Got everything recommended above, TSH, Kidney Function, Hematology, Billirubin, etc.

Most results are in, and all looks "Normal" except for:

"INR" is 1.1 out of a normal range of 2.0 to 3.5
"Co2" is 32 out of normal of 22 to 30/

Mono was negative (just for fun!), and waiting on Hep screen results from 3rd party lab.

What is INR..?

Michaelii

Did you have a PT and INR drawn?
PT is prthrombin time- the time it takes for a clot to form in your blood
INR is a calculation to adjust for different lab values (every lab will get a different result when testing-they all have different norms)