Neutropenia delay cisplatin second dose. Scared it will lessen curative radiation.

Alandon1

My husbands second dose of cisplatin is delayed due to neutropenia. How many of you experienced this?  We are fighting HPV tonsil cancer. 

Mikemetz

Nearly the same thing

I got neutropenia between my second and third rounds of chemo.  That caused the rads to be delayed by just one day, and the third round of chemo got pushed back 2-3 days.  It all ended well, so can't say the delays hurt anything.  Don't know if longer delays would have mattered.

Logan51

Been there

Neutropenia hit me in weeks 5 & 6. My Chemo was different- two pumps&bags w/Cisplatin & FU-5 for 48 hours. Weekend after my 2nd 48 hours I started feeling bad. Called the Rad Center on Monday of week #5 and said I was too sick for the 25-minute session. Gradually got worse. Checked into Hospital on the Monday of week #6 for antibiotic drips. 4 nights in Hospital, and it did me a world of good- remaining Rads were so much easier. Not sure why, but could be on account of the Neutropenia causing me to get no Rads in weeks 5 & 6. 

As for the pause in Rads causing them to be less effective= I'm now over 10-1/2 years out to the good.

Cause of this is a lack of a white blood cell to fight/prevent infection. One source I read said 50% of Chemo Patients experience it. Dr. told me if your fever runs 101 for quite a few hours- that's the body telling you it's dealing with more than it can handle, and a Hospital stay is in order.

Alandon1

Thanks so much

Thanks so much