Guest sandy Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Yesterday my dad came over to my house and I noticed a cut on his hand. His hand look quite red and a bit swollen to me so I asked him what happened. He said he just scratched it the day before and it got twice that big. He said it was looking better. Well 1:30 AM I got a call. my dad was admitted in to the hospital because he had a slight fever and his hand got worse. Plus they said his white count was at 200 which was VERY low. He has to stay at the hospital on IV antibiotics. I'm confused now because the nurse said 200 was very low and the doctor said it can get that low with chemo and not to worry. They just want to keep an eye on him because he is very prone to infection now. My brother and I went to his house and scrubbed it from top to bottom today. I'm sure he hadn't dusted since he moved in....I'm just really worried about how low his white count is. Is that a really low number? Thank you Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Yes Chemo does lower your blood counts. This lowering of white blood cells you ordinarily use to fight infections makes it difficult to ward infection off. Sounds like he has a cellulitis ( infection of the skin) it is a good thing to get IV antibiotics for it. Hope all gets cleared up and he will be home soon. Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandy Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 I know that Chemo lowers the white blood count, we were expecting that, but what I was wondering was if 200 was dangerously low? He will be taken over the the Cross Cancer Hospital today, so I guess I will find all that out. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norme Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Sandy, I know very little on white blood count other then when taking chemo it can really lower it and sometimes because of that they have a shot of some med to raise it. I know Buddy had to have a shot once to increase it. Some people have to take more then one. It was the Taxotere that got his so very low and infection is something they really have to watch out for. I never would of thought that just a scratch would do that though. Hope he is getting better by the minute. I read your other post and it is funny how closeness sometimes comes when one is sick with lc. LC or not, it is great to have that feeling of closeness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy RN Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Yes Sandy 200 is very low, sometimes the Dr will put a person in the hospital and keep others form visiting to keep them from getting sick. Also there are meds a person can get to help the body make more WBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandy Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Thank you for the responses. My Dad got out of the hospital today! His white count was back up to 800. Tomorrow he starts radiation and then next Monday he will have more Chemo. He has been really upbeat through all of this except for today. He washed his hair and handfuls of it came out. That seemed to upset him quite a bit. I told him to remember that losing his hair was a small price to pay for the benefits. Easy for me to say when it's not happening to me I guess, but it seemed to help anyway. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. I don't have anyone that I really feels knows what this is really like. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norme Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Sandy, tell your dad to make a trip to the barber's and get a good shave on his head. It sure is easier then watching it fall out in hunks. BALD HEADS ARE BEAUTIFUL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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