Immune system

I live in the Chgo area. Germs everywhere here too. I was diagnosed with stage 4 follicular non hodgkins lymphoma. I did 6 cycles of R-Chop. My treatment date was a Tues.  By Wed of the following week I would be back at work. I would have gone back sooner but the prednisone part of the treatment (100 mg for 5 days) left me light-headed and I didn't feel safe driving. I work in a large IT dept. My walk from my car to the office was about the length of a football field. Once in the building I had to walk the same distance to get to my desk. 

I kept some hand sanitizer on my desk for mylsef and anyone who came by my desk. My boss told the people in our area that if they felt like they were sick, work from home if it was a day I would be in there. Keep in mind they say a person is usually contagious a day or 2 before they know they are sick. That means I was probably exposed to a lot of bad germs. Never got sick. 

As far as going out. That I did kind of limit. My husband did all of the grocery shopping. I did go to our Walgreens a few times but not until a few days before the next treatment. Figured my white cell count would be the highest by then. That was also the time our kids and grandkids would visit, for the same reason and only if they weren't sick. I also continued to go to church on Sundays.   I look at it this way. Staying in the house all of the time would drive me crazy. Going out and oing all the normal errands and such was probably not the smartest thing for me to do. So I kind of found a middle ground by doing only 1 outside adventure each cycle but only if I felt up to it. 

There's always great advise here! My husband was hilarious! Before I came home from my stem cell transplant he washed down everything he could think of with Clorox Wipes. Of course I could do better, and believe me we were NOT crazy about a totally clean house. We had had sanitizer in every room and I had one hanging on my purse and in cars.   With my different chemo's I stayed away from all the sick people at work. Luckily my employer allowed me to work from home.  I warned any visitors that if they even thought they had a cold they couldn't visit, and yes I did miss a few holidays. 

I still did grocery shopping (washed down the cart handle) and the occasional Target, Kohl's, etc.,  but wore a mask if my counts were at their lowest.  I washed all fruit, veggies, soaked berries, and overlooked meats. 

No gardening, which was hard for me.  My 85 year old neighbor actually cut down some of my fall flowers for me, and my husband did the clean up with me pointing and giving instructions of course. 

You and your husband can do it!

Sharon

123,

My oncologist had a slightly different view of all this when I was on R-ABVD.  A person best avoids sickness when on chemo the same wasy a completely healthy person avoids sickness. Commonsense, mainstream recommendations should suffice, such as Jeff mentioned.  Avoiding crowds, hand sanatation are usually enough.  Ban sick individuals from visiting, obviously.

My wife one day asked my oncologist (who has a stunning 5 Board Certifications:  Medical Oncology, Hematology, Internal Medicne, and two others), "what do we do about his weakened immune system ?"

He replied: "Immune resistance is basically equivalent to the range of healthy WBCs. Since his WBC count is normal, his immune system is not really very compromised."  In other words, the common sense thing.  A slight oversimplification, but basically correct.   I would not go to a basketball game or train station on chemo, but neither is becoming a hermit necessary either. 

max

I can honestly say over the years I ate apples off of trees, veggies out of gardens and berries right off the plant.  Fruit and veggies from the grocery store also.  With a compromised Immune system I did take a step back and thought about the things I do everyday.  Common sense...wash veggies from the grocery story, be careful with anything from the garden and take precautions around sick people.  These are things I do now and will forever regardless of where my WBC is...3.2 today BTW.  I've had a few fevers, nothing the docs ever linked to an infection. 

My son is a police officer, and my daughter a NP( nurse practitioner), and I have a huge extended family. I knew they could encounter something, somewhere, and pass it on to me.  Common sense with a bit (OK a lot) more intensity when the immune system is compromised works!

Sharon

In spite of all our precautions, I did have trouble with infections. I was hospitalized 3 times. Finally, my dose of CHOP was adjusted and I took prophalactic antibiotics (Cipro-ugh) with each cycle. After that, I was able to finish my chemo. In addition to the above excellent ideas, I would advise you to keep close watch on your husband's temperature and report any fevers right away. 

Best,

Rocquie