Dropping White Counts

swimmer22

Well today I had to forgo my 3rd Folfiri treatment due to a low white count. I was really surprised as I actually skipped treatment last week, pushing the time between treatments to 3 weeks as we were going out of town for Thanksgiving.

My count today was only .46 and the minimum for treatment is 15.1. I asked about a neulasta shot but the oncologist said he wanted to wait another week to see if my body naturally responded. He said Folfiri may be too strong. This is my "mop-up" chemo after a successful resection and currently NED status per a PET scan two weeks ago.

Have any of you experienced this-- a count still low the third week out from treatment?

tommycat

Yes, and was taught how to
Yes, and was taught how to self-inject the Neulasta twice a day. Be careful out there with your WBC so low---you don't want to pick up any crud.

Sundanceh

Swim
Interesting on the 15.1 minimun required.

I was doing them anywhere around 2.7 to 4.0.

I had to do 1-neulasta shot every 2 weeks a day after the pump unhook. I see where TC was doing them twice....interesting again, never heard of that.

Anyway, neulasta kept me on the treament and my WBC never made it over 4.0 and still aren't today....this was with Folfiri.

I did Folfox before and my WBCs and platelet counts have never been the same - seems I suffered some damage to my immunity system there.

If your onc keeps you on the Folfiri, perhaps they can lower the dosage or adjust the infusion rate to make it better.

Good luck.

-Craig

swimmer22

Sundanceh said:

Swim
Interesting on the 15.1 minimun required.

I was doing them anywhere around 2.7 to 4.0.

I had to do 1-neulasta shot every 2 weeks a day after the pump unhook. I see where TC was doing them twice....interesting again, never heard of that.

Anyway, neulasta kept me on the treament and my WBC never made it over 4.0 and still aren't today....this was with Folfiri.

I did Folfox before and my WBCs and platelet counts have never been the same - seems I suffered some damage to my immunity system there.

If your onc keeps you on the Folfiri, perhaps they can lower the dosage or adjust the infusion rate to make it better.

Good luck.

-Craig

Correction
I incorrectly listed the minimum to receive treatment as 15.1. I should have typed it as 1.5. The normal range for the ANC is 1.5 to 8.0 (1,500 to 8,000/mm3). Today my count was .46 or 460/mm3. I appologize for my chemo-brain. :-)

Annabelle41415

Yup
My husband gave me the shots as my counts were too low also. They never did bounce back. Your oncologist might want to back down on the strength also. This is not unusual. Good luck.

Kim