Hi all,

I am currently going into week 7 of RT. I had 2 treatments of chemo (Cisplatin). Was supposed to have 3. Apparently, the cisplatin dosage was too much for me. In the last week and a half, I have been hydrated 5 times (4 hours each time) trying to flush cisplatin from my kidneys. That's 10 liters of fluids. Last blood work showed that numbers were finally close to normal. Has anyone else had this problem? Was there any permanent damage to the kidneys? I;m also still queasy almost 2 weeks after chemo. Is that normal?
Thanks
Sandy

Hi Sandy

I've just finished a similar treatment, 7 weeks of rads and 3 chemo/cistplatin injections. For each chemo injection, they would have me check into the hospital 1 day early and hook me up to the IV. Following day they would do the chemo, and then back onto the IV drip. I would stay in the hospital 3 nights so they could keep the IV going. Their main concern was to make sure the cistplatin was flushed from my kidneys. Cheers,

Jimbo

Hey Sandy,

Last week!!!!

Just about everyone suffers from the 3 dose Cis regimen and many don't get the 3rd bag because of their reaction to the first 2 coupled with all the rads that you have already had. As I've told you before my first one was OK, the second one made me sick as a dog (where did they get that saying from anyway) and the 3rd one almost killed me. I also did not get enough IV's and I still made it through without any post Tx chemical related damage to my kidneys, at least that I know of. The Cis did affect my hearing though.

My husband had to get hydrated in reaction to the cisplatin and his creatinin levels went up. They have been fine since treatment ended but they did take him off and switch him to another chemo cocktail.

I had the same reaction and also 1 less Tx and 7+ years later I'm still here. It is a common thing.

I made it through all 3 doses of Cisplatin but that's because of my awesomeness...which I'm told is rare and special, the awesomeness that is.

I did have hearing damage though, in fact my ears are ringing right now! It's either that or I have superhuman hearing and it's picking up alien frequencies from outer space!!! And no...I haven't been vaporizing pot...tonight...yet...

In all seriousness I'm totally down with Christine in the fact that I hate statistics...don't base your decision on them at all.

Eric

Ha Ha! Awesomeness maybe, but more likely the antiemetics worked on you. 40% of the time they don't and I was in that number. Antiemetics must also be rotated as drugs like Zofran have a limited effectivity.

I am glad that my husband has lower doses of Cisplatin once a week rather than 3 heavy doses! He gets 1 hr hydration, 30 min Aloxi (spelling?) and the 1 hr Cisplatin on Tuesdays right after radiation. He has tolerated the first 2 of 8 well. (No vomiting) However, he does seems to have something that resembles Trigemital Nerve issues. They did not give him #3 in case it was a reaction. We will know more next week. Cisplatin... supposed to increase the effectiveness of the radiation. Is it worth it?

Brenda

Also be aware that Cisplatin can also cause permanent high frequency hearing loss and a clue to that damage occurring is the patient hears "ringing" in their ear(s). I haven't heard of anyone having damage with the weekly dosage method but be aware anyway.

Carboplatin can be used when Cisplatin is not advisable and it doesn't have the nasty reputation of Cis so ask your MO what he thinks.

Re the effectiveness of Cis or any chemo used concurrently with radiation in the treatment of SCC, the only studies to my knowledge with Cis involve the 3 big bag Tx method. It's widely said that chemo alone is not effective enough but how much more effective is rad with Cis is estimated from site contributors as anywhere from 10 to 30%. Factor in HPV positive or not and given the nasty side effects of Cis and the 2 different delivery methods (one not proven) and who knows if it's worth it? Unfortunately you usually only get one shot with concurrent rad/chemo so the conservative approach has been to use all the guns available and pray you defeat the cancer the first time.