Bruising/bleeding

eibod

Husband has been treated for stage 4 colon/liver for last 20 months. He is
now on erbitux every 2 weeks. Has been bleeding a good bit from stoma, had
a clear colonscopy last week. But they don't say why he is bruising so much,
and bleeds so much from any little tear in the skin as well. Constantly has
spots on his arms, bleeds so much from any little tear in the skin. Bandaids
everywhere!!!!!
His hemoglobin as dropped to 9.
Anyone have experience with this bleeding and bruising, and should we be
concerned with the hemoglobin count? Thanks, guys, know you'll make us feel
easier.

Sundanceh

Platelets.....
Check his platelet count - if they fall too low, then we are prone to bruise easier and little cuts can bleed for hours and are hard to clot.....because our platelets are low.

This is what this sounds like - certainly worth checking when labs are done again.

Normal range: 150,000 to 450,000

Platelet count for these symptoms would tend to occur below 60,000 and lower.

Don't know how Erbitux affects the platelet leve, but worth inquiring about.

-Craig

John23

eibod -

I never did chemo, but I have studied the chemicals used in
chemical therapy.

If he's taking any type of blood pressure meds, he might be
better off stopping their use while on erbitux.

You can confirm that: *here*

Coumadin by the way, is notorious for resulting bleeding problems.
My neighbor was just taken off that, after I gave him the print-out
to take to his physician. They couldn't figure out why he was
bruising and bleeding so easily.... (duh)

With erbitux added? It's a train wreck in slow motion.

Better health to you both!

John