low platelets after chemo ends??

tastykake
tastykake Member Posts: 9
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I finished my 14th chemo treatment mid Oct. and when I went for a routine blood test Dec 30th my platelet count was only 92,000. This was lower than all the time I was on chemo. Has anyone had this type of situatuion--is it something I need to talk to the oncologists about??

Comments

  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #2
    T.K.
    Initially, it sounds like you are doing the Folfox combo? Oxaliplatin would be the heavy hitter in this cocktail...

    Oxy can really beat the platelets down and over time they may never recover too much higher than you are getting right now, on any given day, or blood draw.

    Normal range is 150-450....being down in the 90's or very low 100's could be the new normal for you.

    That is the case with me...I watched my platelets plummet through treatment. It took over 3 years to get them to back to 116,000 - after a couple of cycles of Folfiri, they were back in the 90's....and have remained basically in that range for the past 3-years. I do not see this changing.

    Your onc should know your bloodwork but you can have him review it. Chemo should not be administered if your platelets get below 90,000 and they know this. There's not much that can be done to boost platelet counts - have heard of people having to have platelet infusions though.

    I had signed up for an experimental drug at the time called NPLATE - it's design was to boost platelet counts and I authorized it for myself and the clinic so my onc could dispense it. We stopped my treatment before I could ever try it.

    I would not be too worried - live is good w/counts in the 90's...big thing is to make sure you are too low if you're still in chemo treatment.

    Take care
    -Craig

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