White Blood Cells

vanser

Hello everyone,
I have a question that I thought someone here might know - what does it mean if a white blood cell count goes up??
My mom's white blood cell count in October was 4.4 and now it is 6.9 I have been reading that white blood cells increase to combat infection & disease so this worries me a bit. The doctor has told her this is in the normal range of 4-10 so not to worry...
All of her other blood counts, red blood cells, etc. were very good and the same as October.

(she was diagnosed Jan 03 with stage III and, as far as we know, she is in remission)

Thanks everyone,
Vanessa

andreae

Dear Vanessa,

Not to worry! We want the WBC to be as high as possible (well, within normal range):) With chemo the big problem is the drop in WBC and the increase risk of infection. They might have been lower before because of chemo. Is your mom on G-CSF or neupogen? That is a colony stimulating factor (shot once a day) to keep those cells high so you can keep getting chemo. Anyways, don't worry bout it.

Happy 2005 and I hope for continued NED:)

Have a fantastic FRIDAY! Yea!

Andrea

vanser

Thanks for the response - it is reassuring.

My mom actually finished her last chemo in September 2003, which is why the sudden change worried me a bit. Is it still normal to have such a sudden change almost a year and a half afer chemo?

Vanessa

littlejulie

Hi Vanessa,
I sent you an email at work. I can't imagine this being anything to be worried about.

stay POSTIVE!!!!