mary colleen Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 My husband had a bilobectomy in early October and has been having Cisplatin/Gemzar since 11/10. He has had 2 full rounds, and part A of his third round. The total plan is for 4 2-part rounds. For the first time since chemo began, his bloodwork is outside of normal ranges in several categories, and he was unable to get his chemo treatment on Thursday. He was instead given a Procrit shot on both Thursday and Friday. He is to go back in on Tuesday, and will hopefully resume his chemo at that time. I have noticed that he has had increasingly labored (noisy) breathing over the last week or so when he is just doing ordinary activities, like coming into the house from the yard, etc. Last evening he exerted himself mildly to go outside and look at a small issue my son was having with his car. When he returned to the house, he had a brief period of real difficulty getting enough breath, but recovered in a couple of minutes. Prior to this, he had recovered well from the early post surgical shortness of breath that resulted from his surgery. His bloodwork is off in several areas: low WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, and lymphocytes...and high in other categories. I am assuming that his SOB is probably a result of the chemo related anemia. Just curious if others have experienced similar SOB symptoms when in chemo and having blood issues? Also wondering - is it pretty routine at this point in chemo (has had 5 of 8 total treatments) to start running into blood count issues, and if treatment for them is usually sufficient to get back on track with the chemo? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trish2418 Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Your husband is at about the same point in treatment that I was when I started to have blood count issues. Never did have SOB, fortunately. Neulasta helped tremendously for me. Hope it gets easier for your husband. Trish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welthy Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Mary, Tony began the procrit and neulasta after three cycles of Taxotere/gemzar. (He had 8 cycles of Carbo/Taxol just before this.) I think Gemzar really knocks the crap out of the hemoglobin & WBC counts. He didn't always need the shots between cycles, just when the counts dipped. He was pretty lucky and never missed treatment due to blood counts. As for SOB, I think when the hemoglobin is down, the breathing gets worse. I'm sorry he is having this problem. Tony has always been SOB and on oxygen, but I do know that he is worse some of the time than others. Make sure the lung specialist knows he is having these issues as he might need oxygen during those times. Do they test his blood/oxygen levels at the oncologist's office? Hope this clears up for him -- SOB is very frustrating for the patient and scary for the caretaker. Regards, Welthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtay Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 My Dad's tumour makes him very short of breath too, I think it is the location of the tumour which makes his worse. It is quite scary coz you want to be able to help but cant. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyma Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Hi My husband is on gemzar/carboplatin combo. He gets both week one, gemzar only week 2 and week 3 he is off. He has missed two treatments now and he just started his fourth cycle. His red and white counts have been messed up and last week he had to get a transfusion. This is very much chemo related. Even with the arensp needle for red counts he has been low - apparently the needle takes time to kick in. The week before he had a transfusion he was short of breath when excerting. He was also coughing alot - like a keel over cough - not just trying to get mucous up - (mucous and chemo apparently go together too). Anyways - I got the family doctor onto it and he has been perscribed a medication - biaxin - to help and it seems to have. It is an unknown road that is for sure. Last time he was short of breath his heart was also racing so I went out and bought a blood pressure monitor - go figure haven't used it since. Have a good new year and hope his blood work gets in order. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lassie Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hi Mary Colleen, It was after my 4th chemo cycle that my counts were really down. I was so SOB that I found it difficult to just get to my car to go for chemo. My chest was so heavy that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. By the time I finished the 5th cycle, I was started on Neulasta for low WBC's and on blood transfusions for the low hemoglobin. By the end of the 6 cycle I ended up taking multiple blood transfusions and an additional Neulasta. Please address this with your oncologist as your hubby will need to get those counts as good as possible to get through the reamining cycles. Good Luck! Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 1, 2007 Author Share Posted January 1, 2007 Thanks, all. No acute periods today, but he has not moved off the sofa most of the day, either. He has an appointment on Tuesday morning, and I will attend with him to ensure that it is mentioned. Just want to get to the end of these rounds of chemo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teresag Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hi Mary Colleen, Drugs like Aranesp and Epo do take time to work. Another consideration is that fatigue, the most common cancer symptom, is contributing to the SOB. Fatigue occurs in the absence of low blood counts, and is caused by both treatment and the disease itself. Although it sounds counter-intuitive, a little exercise (with elastic resistance bands or just lifting a simple can of corn, for example) improves fatigue and SOB. Of course, he should start slowly and gradually increase his activity. And check with the physician beforehand. His doc will want to ensure that there are no other problems, like asthma or anemia, that should be treated with medication. All of the measures for treating SOB, unfortunately, take time. Try to hang in there, and best wishes for improvement in the near future. - Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 Teresa, thanks for you response. You're right...the fatigue is just overwhelming, and is almost certainly contributing to the SOB. As chemo goes on, the fatigue becomes more and more pronounced, and i know that is normal. As I tell him, just a few more weeks to go. MC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 My husband went in for chemo yesterday, and was able to receive it. His blood counts are not all within normal range, but they have improved. He will have three more shots this week in order to keep his blood counts up. The PA asked him about his shortness of breath, and asked the oncologist to see him while he was there due to the SOB. The oncologist spoke with him and wanted to do a CAT scan to check things out, but my husband declined. My husband is reasoning that the SOB is the result of his having stopped exercising since starting chemo. I have been thinking that it was related to the low RBC. I was surprised that the Onc wanted to do a CAT scan at this point. I wasn't surprised that my husband declined it - it's his nature to be kind of oppositional. Hopefully, this will all improve soon. There are only two more chemo treatments to go, and I assume that there will be scans after chemo ends as a matter of routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyma Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Hi I am glad your husband got his chemo. Gerald missed one time cause his liver counts were out of wack...which had us totally freaked out - but that resolved itself. The chemo drugs can apparently throw the liver counts out. After his 3rd cycle he had to have blood transfusion. That was a little scary but it helped huge....hopefully you don't get to that point but if you do then don't worry too much as it is a good thing. All the best, Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 Thanks Heather, My husbands liver enzymes have been elevated throughout chemo as well. I researched it a while back, and saw that it is a potential side effect of both of his chemo drugs. Howevever, I also went back in his medical records, and saw that his liver enzymes were somewhat elevated even before he began treatment, so I've never been sure what to make of that. mc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyma Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Hi With the liver count break down there was one level Lht or something that jumped into the 2500's - anyways to make a story short - I went on internet and found that the oxycodone's he is on can also mess with some of those levels. He was on those before chemo too. Do you ever feel like your next career will be in medicine. Have a good day, Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 Well.... medicine, chauffering, housekeeping, cooking, therapy, research, adolescent psychiatry, yard maintenance, finance, cheerleading, sleep deprivation studies.....any of them:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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