platelet question

[LindaMRG]

Hello Friends,

I had taken my father for chemo today but he couldnt get treated for the second time in a row due to his platelets. They even dropped from last week when he was refused treatment. Nurse said it is the carboplatin doing this. He has to go on Monday for a blood count and if it drops any further he will have a transfusion. She said it was 27,000 and they dont transfuse till 20,000; this was down from last weeks 57,000.

Has this happened to anyone before and everything still turned out okay?

Onc said last week he wasnt concerned as he felt it meant chemo was in there doing what it was supposed to do. But now this is another missed week. His treatment was to be 8 Fridays in a row. He's only had 2.

Im just a little worried today, any thoughts?

[Anniemac]

Linda,

This didn't happen to Tim, but we donated platelets at the blood bank for about 10 years-every 2 weeks. We were told that most of the time they were going to be used for chemo patients, so this must be very common. The other reason they were used was for organ transplants. Hope this helps.

Annie

[SandyS]

Don't panic Linda - I got thru my treatments with out too many complications compared to many others, but I still DID have to get a platelet infusion at one point. No big procedure or painful or anything. And then I had to continue getting shots (I forget which one!) for weeks after that to help my body "hold on" to those platelets.

In Lance Armstrongs book, he says his doctor told him "I'm gonna kill you with chemicals and then bring you back to life - and then I'm gonna do it 5 more times." That's the truth! The chemo just destroys so much of your bloods normal activity, and it takes time for it to heal or recover.

So thank God for modern medicine and that we can give it a nudge to help it recover.........

Hugs and prayers,

SandyS