if blood count is low or borderline?

[cynnycal]

Out of curiosity, when they do your blood work and say your blood count is borderline...what does that mean? I thought he was talking about white blood cell count, but i thought when they tell you those numbers it's like 12 or 14 or (as in my case last week) 10.7.
But they won't let me go get my chemo today b/c my count was low, and when i asked what it was, he said 2,000? and he wants it to be 3000? what is that number referring too?
is there anything i can do myself (diet, or habits) that can up that number so next week i can get this chemo out of the way?
i'm really irritated i have to hold off..i really just want to get this all done and over with.
i figured i'd ask here in addition to asking my doc. b/c you all seem to have a solid wealth of experience and information.
thanks ,
becca

[ASTEPHENS33]

When my doctor runs the blood tests, there are quite a few things on the panel. The ones he has highlighted for me:
WBC - white blood count - normal range 4.3-10 - indicator of immunity
Platelet - normal range 150-400 - indicator of clotting
Hematic - red blood cells - normal range 36-45 0 indicator of oxygen in the blood

So not sure exactly which test you are referring to. I would definitely ask him for more information. I always ask for a copy of the blood test results.

[cynnycal]

hmm. good point.
i'm going in to have the stitches in my port looked at today, maybe i'll see if i can get a copy of the report.
thanks

[Jen28]

I get my blood test results sent to me as well--where I go, they'll just print them out and give them to me when I'm there for chemo and I have them fax them to me when I'm just there for a blood draw. My lab reports all have what the normal range is for the lab and what my counts are, and they mark everything that's abnormal.

I've had low white blood cell counts, low red blood cell counts and low platelet counts, but the only one that has delayed chemo so far has been the white blood cell count (and it would come back up after an extra week). Being really good with my diet didn't seem to affect my counts. My wbc count was low after the first treatment, so my second treatment was delayed. My oncologist tried cutting my dose, but it didn't help, and after treatment 3 or 4, I got a neutropenic fever and had to spend a few days in the hospital on antibiotics. Now I get neulasta after every treatment and I haven't had a problem with my white blood cell count since. I've also started taking aranesp for anemia (low red blood cell counts).

I think it usually just takes some time to get everything under control at the beginning. I can empathize, though. I was really pissed when my second chemo was delayed. I had psyched myself up to do it and just wanted to get it over with. Hope your counts come up soon!

[Christine]

I can understand your frustration. I have had treatments delayed twice due to low white cell counts. Both my third and fifth treatments were delayed. After the second delay, my oncologist decreased my dosages by 20% and I haven't had another delay. I asked if there was anything that I could do and my doctor said that with the white cell counts, the best thing is to make sure that you get enough rest. It gives your body the time and energy to recouperate and get the numbers back up.

For the last month and a half, both my hemoglobin and white blood cell counts have been in the normal range.

[cynnycal]

jeeez. okay so i got a copy of my blood work results today at the hospital. yea, okay if my wbc was 2.4 i guess i can see why the postponed it.
but they gave me procrit before the last treatment i got...why couldn't they just give me something like that and let me go? i mean, obviously i'm not really questioning their judgement, i just want to know why they did that once, but didn't this time?
i had a bit of a fever before i went in...seems to be gone now. but other than that, i dont' see what it would be.

but yes, the nurse printed out my blood test results from yesterdays test, and then from the last times i was in the hospital so i could compare. april 5th (last day of my last treatment) i had a wbc of 3.8. it was nice to have this stuff to look at on my own and compare.
now i need to make myself a medical expert hm? greeeaaat. i was always really bad with this sorta stuff.
it's very discouraging though. i wish i could just will my wbc up.

[ASTEPHENS33]

The reports my onc provides sound like they are in the same format as yours - i.e., all the results for the specific test. To see the trends, I take out the three or four I want to track each time and keep them in a summary form in a spreadsheet. This way I can go a quick snapshot of the trends.

[Dot]

Hi;

My husband currently is on chemo for stage IV CC. I watch his lab work more than he does. We get copies each time he has a lab draw. If his hgb or hct (hemoglobin, hematocrit, aka H&H) are low he gets a shot of Aranesp. He gets this if he is less than 12.6. These are indicators of anemia (low red blood cell count). Aranesp or similar drugs like Procrit or Epogen help the body make red blood cells and chemo kills some red blood cells.

He also gets a shot of Neulasta to keep his white blood cell count up. If your white blood cell counts drop too low you are at a great risk of getting an infection and your body not being able to fight it. The longer he is on chemo his white blood cell counts are slowly dropping even with the Neulasta, but the counts are still greater than 5000.

They had put him on the Neulasta as soon as he started chemo. His surgical wound was still healing and he was not on any antibiotics. Another factor is that he is a diabetic and diabetics do heal slower normally.

He gets the Aranesp on the first day of chemo and when he is done with his 46 hour 5FU infusion he gets the Neulasta.

So the Aranesp is keeping his anemia under control and the Neulasta is keeping his white blood cell count high enough to naturally fight any infection. He did get a couple of colds this past winter, but he did not get any other infection like bronchitis or pneumonia.

Periodically I ask that they give me a graphing of some of his lab reports. Like, CEA levels, LFT's (liver function tests since his tumors are in his liver). I review these and ask questions. For example, his CEA level was 14.1 before starting chemo and has been dropping till 4.1 then there was a slight increase up to 5.4. I questioned this and was told that this does sometimes happen while on chemo.

My advice, be your own advocate & ask questions. Get copies of your lab results and more importantly get the normal values of these labs so you too can see how low or high your levels are. Also, ask about getting Neulasta if your white blood cell cound is low. If you are told no, ask why! If you are anemic, ask about Aranesp.

Don't worry about being too pushy or demanding. It is your body, your disease and you have a right to know!

Stay strong and keep up the fight.

Dot

[cynnycal]

my last treatment before i started it they gave me a shot of procrit.
that's why i was wondering why they didn't just give me that and let me go with the treatment.
my mom (she's my advocate...nurse for 24 years) says it's b/c in addition to my blood tests being low, i had a fever, (and a slight sore throat).

i got my port put in march 21st and from the operating room was wheeled right up to oncology and started chemo (they left a needle in after putting the port in so i could just get hooked up?).
now it looks like the port wound isn't healing right (one side has closed up, but the other side is still pulling apart a little, they put more stitches in yesterday but then they called me today and said they want me to come in tomorrow to look at it b/c they may want to recut and restitch it, or even take it out all together (and start over?)

this all really bothers me. the first 2 treatments seemed to go so well...no humps. and now all this.
but yes, i have my reports now, and it is a bit more empowering to know the numbers they're looking at
and i can always ask my mom on the stuff i dont get.
now, here's a question...what is CEA?

[ASTEPHENS33]

I don't really understand the details, but CEA is a blood marker that can tell if you have colon cancer. Not everyone that has colon cancer has a high CEA, so its only one indication. My CEA, for example, was in the normal range and yet I had cancer in my lymph nodes.

[cynnycal]

hmm..okay.
well, i wonder if the fact that i have inherited colon cancer matters with that? b/c i've heard no mention of CEA from any of my doctors. to my knowledge anyway.