Colon cancer

Hi Caramel 

Just checking I have read this properly . You have just finished your chemo tablets in Jan this year ?

Liver enzymes are frequently pushed up by chemo . My understanding is this is quite common . There is still an acceptable level they can work with , sometimes if it pushes past this they delay chemo for a week or two for it to come back down .

My mum always had one that stayed a bit raised . 
Given you have just finished chemo you need time for things to heal . Chemo is a big hit . That’s why surgery post chemo is delayed often around the six week mark to allow some healing .

Whilst A and E is a very important speciality they do not the working knowledge of you that the oncologist has and they know their speciality best . They may have been at this level for a while and not overly concerned . The other thing you can do is contact your Gp and explain what happened and how it made you feel . They can talk  it through with you from a clinical point of view .

The other reassuring thing you could do is phone the Macmillan helpline . 0808 808 0000 . They have nurses with experience in all things chemo who could talk it through with you and have more insight than I have .

Take care ,

Court 

• Thank you for replying. Yes 2nd January 2025. I think it just frightened me as the doctor in A&E was not great. The UTI is the worst I've ever had, he didn't even know there was a cancer unit in the ospital. My bloods were always good throughout my treatment and I am very sick with this UTI, nausea and dizziness. Just worried as my tumour was near my liver. Telephoned oncologist yesterday and thy were to call me today but didn't, I had to telephone them and wasn't really getting any info re how bad the bloods where, just told I've been referred for ultrasound and bringing CT scan forward bya few weeks and try not to worry. Did your mum find that once chemotherapy was finished they didn't really seem to be of help. I only used the emergency helpline once during my whole treatment. Will iff give the Macmillan helpline a call. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer me. I hope your mum is OK. Cancer is awful.

Oh yes . Once you are not in active treatment you were quickly passed off . Thankfully mum had a great GP . You really do have to advocate for yourself . 

They always play safe if there has been a cancer diagnosis. More a case of ruling out than in . Mum found her bladder quite irritated by chemo at times . 

My mum passed in the summer . She was a stage 4 patient from the word go and despite a liver full of tumours her liver markers were totally normal !!! The only thing that altered them was treatment! Lots of chemo and surgery . But she lived an amazing 15 years with a few liver surgeries etc . I know you are worried about raised enzymes. That was never how my own mums were detected . There are so many things they can do for the liver . She has surgery and it remains clear for over 13 years after that . 

Chemo and surgery let her live to 82 but one of her surgeons once mentioned that every organ gets a hit with chemo !

Hope it is quickly resolved for you so you can get back to enjoying being treatment free .

Remember they also track your tumour markers throughout treatment . If they were heading in the wrong direction they would have told you .

take care ,

Court 

Thank you, I am so sorry yo hear about your mum. I'm 53. Its been a shit 2024/2025. Xxx

In case it helps, I was told my bloodwork was good all through chemo and I assumed that meant normal. However, on reviewing results I found my liver enzymes were consistently elevated. My GP noticed and called the oncologist. As my GP explained to me, some elevation is normal and the oncologist has an idea what can be accepted. As long as I was below the acceptable limit even if it was above normal, my bloodwork was "good". 

My liver enzymes eventually returned to normal range. 

Thank you.