Low platelets, uterine bleeding, chemo damage

This will be tmi for some. I'm posting the topic to see if other women have experienced the same and to warn / inform others who might find themselves in this situation ...

I stopped taking chemo ( Xeloda) on 11/13/16 Because I was sick of the side effects (headache, gum / tooth pain, fatigue, skin sensitivity) and needed a break. The chemo had been off & on for 4-6 weeks due to chronic low platelets. On 11/22 I had an appt and found out that my platelet count was 46, the lowest so far. My doctor recommended stopping chemo for a while to give the platelets a chance to come back. 

On 11/14 I had a Mirena IUD placed in an attempt to stop or at least lessen my cycle bleeding, which had been extreme the previous month due to the platelet problem. Unfortunately, the Mirena IUD seemed to make the situation worse. I started bleeding 11/24/16 and have not stopped since. 

12/15/16 in a scheduled IUD check, the doctor saw a 3cm uterine polyp that had grown SINCE putting in the IUD. One week later my GYN cut the polyp out. The IUD came out at that time because it was apparently falling out anyway. I went home and basically started hemmoraging. My GYN gave me an Rx for Provera to slow the bleeding which hardly helped. Then I got a stronger one, Magase, which is better, although I'm still bleeding heavily. The next step is a uterine ablation which I'm hoping will end the problem. 

I'm pretty worn out from all of this, not sure if the weakness is from the medication or blood loss or both. Emotionally it's been draining too. I had hoped for better energy during this chemo break. For a few weeks I felt better, but theN all the craziness started, so all in all it's pretty disappointing. 

My take-away is that this is ultimately a result of chemotherapy, which damaged my platelets. If I had the original chemo decision to make again, I wouldnt do it immediately, when my oncologist said that I HAD TO (Or die). I'd research more and consider the possibility that I might live the same amount of time with or without chemo. Who knows. My onc believes that my cancer was present and slowly growing in my body for years. Being pregnant with twins and having a lot of excess estrogen fueled the cancer and made it grow fast. So after delivering the babies, maybe it would have returned to slow growth. At least, I could have had a scan, waited a bit, then had another scan to see if it was growing before making the chemo decision. 

Comments

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    Don't do it

    Don't look back with regret, it just causes heartache.  Move forward with strength and determination to live as healthily as you can. Enjoy those good days and take good care of yourself during the bad. 

    I am so sorry to hear of your added problems, and pray the bleeding will cease, even force you into menopause, which is what happened to me (though I was at 'that age' and my body ready to stop the cycles). 

    I pray for you to reciive strength, and hope those platelets build back up soon. 

    TRU

  • nateswife
    nateswife Member Posts: 65
    Trubrit said:

    Don't do it

    Don't look back with regret, it just causes heartache.  Move forward with strength and determination to live as healthily as you can. Enjoy those good days and take good care of yourself during the bad. 

    I am so sorry to hear of your added problems, and pray the bleeding will cease, even force you into menopause, which is what happened to me (though I was at 'that age' and my body ready to stop the cycles). 

    I pray for you to reciive strength, and hope those platelets build back up soon. 

    TRU

    Thank you, Sue! I appreciate

    Thank you, Sue! I appreciate your kindness.