High blood levels

jaredsmom
jaredsmom Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
We have just completed round two of DBVE. We have been giving Jared his daily injections of GCSF to maintain his blood levels. Well, they never did drop, and as a matter of fact, they are so high, too high now. The hospital has told us to stop giving him the G shots because now he is experiencing back pain. This is my question.......Has anyone ever experienced something like this? I am worried that maybe he is not responding to the chemo. Or, maybe the G is doing it's job, but how do they tell if the chemo is working when all of his levels are so high. I am so confused!!! I guess I should feel lucky that he has never been neutropenic or got any infections, but something in my head is telling me different. His total ANC today is 27,000. His White cells are 31, and his platelets are 289,000. I would appreciate any advice or experiences with this. Thank you all.

Comments

  • Heatherjb
    Heatherjb Member Posts: 27
    #2
    I had 8 cycles of ABVD and never had to have any Neupogen shots or transfusions. My levels did not drop low enough to have to have anything. My Oncologist did say that right before the last treatment, my levels had dropped down pretty far, but not far enough to need the shot or a transfusion. I was 29 when I was diagnosed and have been cancer free for 2 1/2 years. Of course every person is different and I did not have the same type of chemo. I will keep Jared in my prayers.
    Heather
  • Glorihl
    Glorihl Member Posts: 11
    #3
    Hello, I,m a little late I just read this today. Besides being a HD survivor (3months and counting) I'm also a medical technologist ( a lab technologist that processes all those lab tests) That WBC count is indeed way too high. Of course each person is different, but as my doctor explained, the purpose of GCSF is to maintain a level of protection against infection, but overstimulation of the bone marrow is counterproductive, because then the cells produced are immature and therefore, incapable of fighting infection properly. The ideal is to achieve what would otherwise be a normal count, which in the case of WBCs it's about 10,000 maximum. Also, the GCSF should be administered when neccessary (when levels drop) not all the time if the patient doesn't need it. They may also have to time it with your son's particular cycle. In my case, it needed to be timed about 3 days before chemo, because that's where my counts would take a nose dive. It took careful observation on my part as well as my Dr. and her nurse to figure that out, but after that my levels were nicely controlled. Check your son's results, see if you notice a pattern where counts drop a particular number of days after chemo. As for the platelets, that's a normal number.
    Hope this helps, and that everything continues well.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #4
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