All ready for #5 treatment, but delay... delay

SandyL
SandyL Member Posts: 218
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My husband (colon cancer III)has had 4 of the 12 Fol/Fox with Oxy treatments. The fifth treatment has been delayed, first for low platelets and then last week the platelet number was up but the WBC was down. Wondering if any of you have had this happen to you. And if so, were you delayed for other treatments also? On a positive note he's feeling great now. Almost 4 weeks without tx. Thanks for any insight you can give us. We see the dr. on Tuesday and hopefully get some answers from him, too.

Comments

  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #2
    yep........
    A shot of Neulasta or a series of 3 of Neupagen will do the trick........My babbled around so they started a regimen of Neulasta and haven't missed any more yet...The extra week off is great but its just prolongs getting done.....The Neulasta shot is $6000...it could be the insurance company might be balking on it.....Good luck.......
  • lizbiz
    lizbiz Member Posts: 120
    #3
    Buzzard said:

    yep........
    A shot of Neulasta or a series of 3 of Neupagen will do the trick........My babbled around so they started a regimen of Neulasta and haven't missed any more yet...The extra week off is great but its just prolongs getting done.....The Neulasta shot is $6000...it could be the insurance company might be balking on it.....Good luck.......

    Delay...
    I was put on a 3-week delay after my 7th FOLFOX treatment. My numbers were just too low. I felt great during the 3rd week. There weren't any more delays after that one, but they told me that if it happened again that they'd give me a shot of Neulasta. Fortunately I didn't need it, although the last 5 treatments really kicked my butt.

    Hugs and Hope,
    Elizabeth
  • SandyL
    SandyL Member Posts: 218
    #4
    Buzzard said:

    yep........
    A shot of Neulasta or a series of 3 of Neupagen will do the trick........My babbled around so they started a regimen of Neulasta and haven't missed any more yet...The extra week off is great but its just prolongs getting done.....The Neulasta shot is $6000...it could be the insurance company might be balking on it.....Good luck.......

    Thanks for your reply, Buzzard
    At this point we haven't seen the dr. to know if that has even been considered but I will mention it to him on Tuesday for sure. Did you have to have this after each treatment? He's hating this prolonged time until completion. Thanks again for answering and I plan to mention it to dr. Did you have any bad side effects with the Neulasta?
  • SandyL
    SandyL Member Posts: 218
    #5
    SandyL said:

    Thanks for your reply, Buzzard
    At this point we haven't seen the dr. to know if that has even been considered but I will mention it to him on Tuesday for sure. Did you have to have this after each treatment? He's hating this prolonged time until completion. Thanks again for answering and I plan to mention it to dr. Did you have any bad side effects with the Neulasta?

    and Elizabeth, too
    thanks for answering. This stuff makes us feel so out of control. Can't change anything (diet, exercise) to bring those counts up and that is so frustrating. Sure hate to inject yet another drug, but if it helps to bring the counts up, then I guess it would be worth it.
  • butterfly23
    butterfly23 Member Posts: 256
    #6
    happened to my last week!
    Yes it is common for platelets to be low. I was sick with a cold last week and my white blood counts were extremly low this week, therefore my treatment was delayed too. Last time this happened to my they started giving my shots of Neulasta to boost them up. It does the trick I will find out if I can have treatment this week coming up. I do feel not myself, I get tired easily. You really have to stay clear of anyone that is sick and it is hard especially at this time of year! Good luck to you!
    God Bless!
    Karyn
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #7
    SandyL said:

    Thanks for your reply, Buzzard
    At this point we haven't seen the dr. to know if that has even been considered but I will mention it to him on Tuesday for sure. Did you have to have this after each treatment? He's hating this prolonged time until completion. Thanks again for answering and I plan to mention it to dr. Did you have any bad side effects with the Neulasta?

    I started the Neulasta after the 7th treatment because my WBC was dropping just below the safe line to do chemo with so in order to maintain my schedule he started giving me the Neulasta after the 5fu pump was removed on Wednesday and that kept my WBC up just fine to go ahead with the next round. I have had no side effects at all with it although some say that it makes the lower back kind of sore because it is rejuvenating the bone marrow. I did have a very slight dull headache after the shot but Tylenol took care of it...Thats it.......God Bless ya...Good Luck
  • fighting for mom
    fighting for mom Member Posts: 96
    #8
    butterfly23 said:

    happened to my last week!
    Yes it is common for platelets to be low. I was sick with a cold last week and my white blood counts were extremly low this week, therefore my treatment was delayed too. Last time this happened to my they started giving my shots of Neulasta to boost them up. It does the trick I will find out if I can have treatment this week coming up. I do feel not myself, I get tired easily. You really have to stay clear of anyone that is sick and it is hard especially at this time of year! Good luck to you!
    God Bless!
    Karyn

    it happened after 1st round
    My mom had her first round of 5fu- her white counts were dangerously low so had to miss her second round. She had to fight with her insurance company to get the Neulasta. Her counts ended up high enough the following week to get the 2nd round on a Tues with pump removed on Thursday and got the neulasta on Friday. She will be getting the neulasta until the final 12th round.

    The insurance company said they wouldn't pay for the neulasta until she could get a round of chemo in. It just amazed me that we pay for insurance only to have to fight them every step of the way.

    I know mom was pretty upset because it happened after only the 1st treatment. It affects everyone so differently.

    Good luck and keep up with the good fight!

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