rinksgal Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Darrell and I went to get his 3rd shot of aranesp shot today that is suppose to bring up his red blood cells count. They did blood work and his wbc is 0.7 his rbc 2.11, hemoglobin is 7.4 platelets 97 and his abs nutrophil is 0.20 They say he is at high risk of infections.. not to go anywhere around people without a mask, etc..... They gave him another shot of aranesp (which is like procrit) and tomorrow he has to get 2 units of blood... No wonder he hasn't been off the couch for 1 1/2 weeks....no energy at all.. I am so worried about him... What Chemo does to our loved ones suck! They practically kill them to get rid of Cancer!!! Damn I hate that word more every day!!!I just hope its working!!!!! I hate seeing Darrell so low physically... Christy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaf Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 christy: praying for both you and darrel and especially hoping that the shots will help his blood cell count. donaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhutch1366 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Christy, I know it tears you up, but chemo is good stuff. I had the chemo Darrell is on, and it is powerful. Killed my tumor completely. Be glad the transfusions are available, he'll feel better afterward. You didn't mention, but does he have any more cycles of chemo left? I only went through four. When the chemo is finished, then take vitamins multiple plus b complex plus antioxidants, none of which should be taken with chemo, but after chemo they'll help Darrell recover faster. And don't forget lots of water. I know chemo is rough. I find it hard to get mad at what essentially saved my life. My heart goes out to you having to watch him feel bad. Chin up! This part too will pass... XOXOX MaryAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinksgal Posted October 21, 2003 Author Share Posted October 21, 2003 Darrell is suppose to get a new ct scan on Oct. 27th and then we go to see both the regular oncologist and the radiation oncologist on Oct 30th to find out the results and future treatment plans. His regular oncologist says that depending on what the next scan shows, they might also do another pet scan and/or mri and if things look good (whatever that means, gone or more shrinkage I'm not sure) they might give him a break, if not he's planning on doing taxotere 3x with 3 weeks in between each time. But seems like he always changes what he's told us he was gonna do. He kept saying taxotere 2 regimens ago, but continued with cisplatin and vp-16. So I guess it all depends... I hope things are good because I think he needs a break...Thanks for your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judysdaughter Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Can't offer any advice but am sending you warm thoughts and prayers. Do you need anything? Is there anything that we can do to help the helper? Please try and be good to yourself and squeak some kind of something out that will bring you peace. We often ignore ourselves and then we put ourselves in a weakened position to be of help. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhutch1366 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Christy, If they are keeping him on VP-16 and Cisplatin, it means that the tumor(s) are continuing to respond to the chemo, so they don't change it yet. Which is a good thing. I know the chemo is strong, any platinum based chemo is, but God be praised! it blasted my huge tumor into nowhere. It seems to be doing good things for Darrell also. The doctors can't commit to a next move until they see what happens with this one, so although I'm sure it makes you nuts, try to understand it's a moving target. Take good care of Darrell while he recovers from the chemo, and be gentle with yourself. It looks like things are going well at the moment. Good luck on the scans. Let us know how they turn out. In my prayers, XOXOX MaryAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 You may want to try astragalus and/or reshi/maitake mushrooms. they may help boost the immune system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinksgal Posted October 22, 2003 Author Share Posted October 22, 2003 How about my sanity? Sometimes its so hard, I don't know why I said sometimes, When I should have said all the time. I appreciate your offer of help. Can you make this all be a big nightmare? If only we could. I've been to the doc a few times, due to chest pains, all is anxiety and stress. I have always been easily stressed, and now I have good reasons! She changed my antidepressant. it seems to be helping me. The other one was giving me nightmares everynight, I wasn't sleeping, and I felt like doing nothing, I was dragging!! This new one is helping me feel more like doing things, and has inproved my sleeping without feeling drugged. Plus she gave me xanax for when I have really bad days.. I don't take it except when I really need it... Just having people like you on here helps more than anything. I don't think I could survive without this message board at times. And thanks to everyone on here!! Christy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norme Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Hi Christy, Sorry to hear Darrell is still feeling like he/////. The blood should give him a boost. Those are really low counts caused by the chemo. Don't let anyone around him who is not 100% okay. For yourself, take a few hours off and do something for you. Go shopping, or just go for coffee. Let the children watch him for a few hours. We all need time to recharge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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