Low White Cell Count

[conley]

Good evening....I need some information from this forum. My husband has Adneocarcinoma, IIIB, unresectable, recurrent laryngeal nerve involment. Diagnosed Jan. 2004.

Before Chemo/Radiation started my husband was quite ill, cough, shortness of breath, very sore throat, fatigued, fever, swelling in ankles and knees, lost weight. His original white cell count was very, very, high. I believe they mentioned 22,000 ???. He has just completed 7 rounds of carboplatin/taxol and 7 weeks of radiation. Just before his last radiation treatment on Monday April 5th after blood work he was told his white cell count was very low 1.4. Up until this week he was feeling quite well, gained all his weight back, energy returned etc. Now, the fever is back, he is very fatigued, no appetite, almost where he started out. Is this a normal response after so many treatments? His neutrophils are OK, but it seems like it was very sudden. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Prayers for all.

Judy

[gerbil runner]

Low white blood cells leave one open for infection. Please call his dr. ASAP.

Hope he's feeling better soon.

[Guest]

Thank you for your reply. My husband's radiation onc and his medical onc both are aware of the situation. He is on Tequin for 10 days. I was wondering if this is common among chemo and/or radiation survivors, what helped them to up their white count. I understand that this can take up to 30 days.

[Don Wood]

Yep, both red cells and white cells can decrease during chemo. My wife took Neulasta for the white blood cells. Don

[MO_Sugar]

I take a daily shot of Neupogen for my wbc and they are staying about 9.3 (should be between 4.0 and 11.0 K/uL.). So far it has worked well for me.

God Bless,

MO