Hello! Update and Question

andyc56
andyc56 Member Posts: 42
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello all, long time since I have posted, but I do check the boards quite often. Some of you may remember that my wife Kim was diagnosed stage IIIC colon cancer in Sept. 04. There have been some difficulties and false alarms but as of today she is NED and we are thankful. I do have a question for the experts here, however.

She continues to have an issue with low white counts. This originally showed up after her colon surgery but before chemo. Boosting her WBC's during chemo was a real challenge. She is now 16 months out from chemo and still this is an issue. I seem to remember reading somewhere that removing a large section of colon, for cancer or otherwise, could impact WBC's. If anyone knows if this is true, and/or where I can read more about this, please reply. Thanks and best wishes to all the warriors and caregivers here.

Comments

  • scouty
    scouty Member Posts: 1,965 Member
    #2
    Good to hear from you again Andy and it's great hearing about Kim and her continual dance with NED.

    I'll be curious to see what other have to say about your question. I can only speak for myself but you have to remember I am one of those alternative "freaks", read cautiously.

    I had a foot of my lower colon/upper rectum removed in January of this year. My white and red blood cell counts were very high going in (I work very hard at maintaining both).

    I lost quite a bit of blood during surgery but my white blood cell counts only dropped a little the first few weeks. My red blood cell counts dropped greatly in that same time frame but they rebounded almost as quickly as they went down. In the meantime, my WBC (white blood cell count) ANC (absolute neutrals count), and platelet counts took longer to come back up.

    With my quarterly testing mid May of this year, 4 months after my surgery, my important white blood cells counts were still dropping or not changing. I remember feeling a little disappointed but since my red blood cell counts were back up to my almost normal (the high end of the scale), I just kept doing what I was doing.

    Lo and behold, my most recent testing showed all 3 important counts back up almost to the max they can be. I was thrilled.

    Keep Kim eating right and some supplements might do her some good too.

    Lisa P.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #3
    I agree with Lisa....make sure she is eating dark colors in fruits and vegies, high in the 'anti-oxidents'....my white cell count had always bottomed out....started the green tea/blueberries/coffee/spinach stepup...my count is staying in 'normal' range...

    BTW, NAKED HAPPY DANCE for the NED!!!!!!!!
    Hugs, Kathi
  • pink05
    pink05 Member Posts: 550
    #4
    Hi Andy,

    I don't know much about boosting WBC counts. Have you asked Kim's doctor about this? Maybe there are some supplements that she can take, although I'm not sure which ones are good for WBCs.

    Anyway, so happy to hear that Kim is NED. That is wonderful!!!

    God bless,

    -Lee-

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