Blood tests at the ER question

[kimblanchard]

Hi, everyone. Jim's temp went to 101.3, we called the doctor, they said take him to the ER for a bloodtest and whatever is needed, which we did. They did an exam, bloodtests and oral antibiotic. We had a bloodtest just last Wednesday, so I have some values for both. If anyone can clue me in as to what this all means, I sure would like to know.

4/21

WBC 1400

"infection fighters" under 1000

RBC 11.8

Today they said:

WBC 2400 (improved)

neurophils - they said these were 11 on the 4/21 but are now 6 and 4 of those were juvenile.

And - a lot of monocytes floating around.

And they assured me, he is very susceptible to infection right now, that was already my guess. They gave him Levaquin by mouth plus a prescription for more. The doctor did not strike me as very knowledgable, asked us if there were antibiotics he shouldn't have with this treatment and said he didn't know much about the chemos. Of course we will be calling his onc tomorrow but I am wondering if anyone knows the significance of these findings? And are Neurophils and "infection fighters" refering to the same thing?

Thanks, Margaret

[john]

The normal WBC is 4000-10000 WBCs per microliter (uL)

Not sure what the other numbers mean - Make sure you ask about what

units everything is in.

http://www.cancersymptoms.org/symptoms/ ... rn/cbc.php

http://www.online-ambulance.com/medical ... unt%20(CBC).htm

Astragalus is a herb that improves immune function. You could do some more research on this and ask your doctor. Dr Weil recommends this to cancer patients

[kimblanchard]

Just a follow up. Apparently the "infection fighters" are the same thing, current count is 240, extremely low. Continue antibiotic. The doctor ordered daily bloodtests and the daily shots to boost white blood count, until "infection fighters are over 1000. Otherwise - be a hermit until this passes.

Thank you again, John

Margaret in Iowa

[Guest Billie]

Margaret,

I had the Neupogen shots daily for a while also. They really worked to bring the WBC's back up. One thing to be aware of, though (they forgot to tell me ahead of time), Neupogen can cause bone and joint pain. It reallyscared me when it happened since I didn't know that the Neupogen shots would do that. It sounds like Jim is getting some significant shrinkage with this chemo. That is good news and I sure hope that continues for him.

Billie

PS: I am headed down through Iowa (I35 all the way) to my Mom's in Missouri on Thursday this week. If you're anywhere near I35, PM me and maybe we can meet.