Low Blood counts AGAIN

[mjkelley]

I had to postpone my treatement in December and again in March. In March just one extra week brought all but my iron way up. Platelets were 160 for the 1st time in a long time.

This past treatment my onc had me take the neutogen shots. Today I got my blood work and the wbc and the neutriphils are almost as low as the two times I was deferred.

My chemo nurse had mentioned last time that I may have to change my folfox treatments from every other week to every third week.

Anyone else have this issue, and our more importantly an every three week schedule. I am shocked and sad that the shots didn't help!?!?!

I am on a chemo for life treatment plan, and the folfox has kept my CEA so low, it's been under one for a few months now. The thought of changing things up scares me!

Mary Jane

[dianne052506]

Mary Jane,

You've a quite a bit of Folfox, and the more you have the harder it is to keep the counts up. I had a total of 31 rounds of oxaliplatin before my big reaction. I found my counts did better when I switched to XELOX/Avastin (oxi and avastin on day 1, Xeloda pills on days 1-14, then a week off). I also had better luck with Neulasta shots rather than Neupogen. Neupogen gave me big raised welts on my arms, and we switch because of that, but my counts did far better, plus the Neulasta shots are only done once each round.

I'm curious, have you been seen at a cancer center that does HAI (pumps chemo directly to the liver)? I know that Gaelen was first told that her liver was unresectable, but the HAI made the difference for her. I believe her surgeon at Sloan Kettering is supposed to be the best, would a consult even be possible?

If you are not going for the possibility of a curative re-section, then what is your onc's plan? I think chemo-for-life needs constant tweaking to keep that quality of life worth living. Friday makes 57 months for me.
Best of luck to you,
Dianne

[mjkelley]

Diane,

57 months! Thats a long time.. If your ever up to it, I would like to hear more about your treatments etc....

We have not gone to a major cancer center yet. I have Kaiser in Northern California, my understanding is that they will cover items necessary and that they can't provide. I'm assuming the 2nd opinion would be on my dime. Since the folfox was working so well we decided to ride it out for a bit then look into other options. My CEA dropped dramatically and has stayed low. We are about to schedule another scan to see if the tumors in my liver have shrank some more, last time (after about 10 months of treatment there was about a 30% reduction in the three largest). I have an appointment next tuesday with the onc., so it's time to really start looking forward and pushing for other treatments. Hai, the spheres I would like to attempt something like that.

Thanks for your repsonse, I will also discuss Neulasta with him.

Thanks again for your reply.

Mary jane

[Angie'sKid]

Mom has been having issues with blood counts being low, so she is going on every three weeks i/o every two weeks, with a Neulasta shot on the day she has her pump disconnected. It seems to be working better, her energy levels also have a chance to rebound and she doesn't have the emotional rollercoaster of being disappointed when the numbers are low.