has anyone been hospitalized with neutropenia?

mvannie
mvannie Member Posts: 16
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I had my first T/C chemo two weeks ago. After 7 days I developed a fever and severe abdominal pain. I was admitted to the hospital with a white count of 260! Normal 5000 to 10,000. Diverticulitis and C Diff. I was in the hospital for 5 days. Now I am afraid to have the next treatment. They are going to lower the chemo dose and give me neulasta.
I am still on two antibiotics. Thanks all this gets a little lonley.

Comments

  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #2
    I didn't have the
    I didn't have the complications you are experiencing but wanted to welcome you to this amazing group of individuals. This is not a journey that any of us wanted to experience but know that the chemo and rads are do-able. You will get through this and come out on the other end. Please continue to post and ask any questions you have and someone will come along with information or advice for you. There is always someone on this site 24/7. Good luck and know that we will be there with you every step of the way. Take care.
  • mickeymom
    mickeymom Member Posts: 117
    #3
    As if chemo wasn't enough.
    Neutropenia is no fun. I wasn't on T/C but A/C and I developed a neutopenic fever after my 4th treatment. I was hospitalized for 2 1/2 days with a white count of 160. I had been fighting a bad cold but then I developed a unirnary tract infection and the timing of those two infections on top of the chemo sent my white count plummeting. Lots of antibiotics and neupogen (a fast acting form of Neulasta)shots and I was all better. It never happened again but I was much more careful about hand sanitizer and staying away from crowds and places where there could be lots of germs. (I work in an elementary school and it was a big challenge!)

    The neulasta shots should help you. My oncologist told me that after chemo your white count drops a little more each day and usually bottoms out between 7-10 days after the treatment. Neulasta is designed to release slowly to boost your white cells during that time.

    My husband has had that diverticulitis a couple times and now he knows certain things he can't eat because they can make it easier for an infection to start. His doctor has him taking a fiber supplement also to keep things moving. Maybe you could talk to a nutrionist or gastroentrologist about what might have caused the infection and what kinds of things you might avoid to keep that from coming back. That's a harder one to guard against.

    I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I'm glad you're getting better. Chemo is bad enough without the extra trip to the hospital. Hopefully the adjustments to your chemo and the neulasta will help! Drink LOTS of water all the time too - it will help flush your system of any nasty germs that might be lurking around waiting for your white count to drop!
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #4
    mickeymom said:

    As if chemo wasn't enough.
    Neutropenia is no fun. I wasn't on T/C but A/C and I developed a neutopenic fever after my 4th treatment. I was hospitalized for 2 1/2 days with a white count of 160. I had been fighting a bad cold but then I developed a unirnary tract infection and the timing of those two infections on top of the chemo sent my white count plummeting. Lots of antibiotics and neupogen (a fast acting form of Neulasta)shots and I was all better. It never happened again but I was much more careful about hand sanitizer and staying away from crowds and places where there could be lots of germs. (I work in an elementary school and it was a big challenge!)

    The neulasta shots should help you. My oncologist told me that after chemo your white count drops a little more each day and usually bottoms out between 7-10 days after the treatment. Neulasta is designed to release slowly to boost your white cells during that time.

    My husband has had that diverticulitis a couple times and now he knows certain things he can't eat because they can make it easier for an infection to start. His doctor has him taking a fiber supplement also to keep things moving. Maybe you could talk to a nutrionist or gastroentrologist about what might have caused the infection and what kinds of things you might avoid to keep that from coming back. That's a harder one to guard against.

    I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I'm glad you're getting better. Chemo is bad enough without the extra trip to the hospital. Hopefully the adjustments to your chemo and the neulasta will help! Drink LOTS of water all the time too - it will help flush your system of any nasty germs that might be lurking around waiting for your white count to drop!

    I was hospitalized with
    I was hospitalized with dehydration and was neutropenic1.2 but no fever. you can get C-diff after taking antibiotics. In retrospect I was too sick to go out except to the hospital and that probably saved me.
  • mvannie
    mvannie Member Posts: 16
    #5
    MyTurnNow said:

    I didn't have the
    I didn't have the complications you are experiencing but wanted to welcome you to this amazing group of individuals. This is not a journey that any of us wanted to experience but know that the chemo and rads are do-able. You will get through this and come out on the other end. Please continue to post and ask any questions you have and someone will come along with information or advice for you. There is always someone on this site 24/7. Good luck and know that we will be there with you every step of the way. Take care.

    new to group
    Thanks for your encouragement! I am going to join the support group at the hospital. I am finding it very hard because my husband does not want to talk about anything. I forgot to mention that while I was in the hospital the surgeron came to see me twice to say that I need to have part of my colon out after chemo (because of the diverticulitis). I am just going to take one day at a time. I went to my regular GI doc today and he is going to read my CT scan.
  • mvannie
    mvannie Member Posts: 16
    #6
    mickeymom said:

    As if chemo wasn't enough.
    Neutropenia is no fun. I wasn't on T/C but A/C and I developed a neutopenic fever after my 4th treatment. I was hospitalized for 2 1/2 days with a white count of 160. I had been fighting a bad cold but then I developed a unirnary tract infection and the timing of those two infections on top of the chemo sent my white count plummeting. Lots of antibiotics and neupogen (a fast acting form of Neulasta)shots and I was all better. It never happened again but I was much more careful about hand sanitizer and staying away from crowds and places where there could be lots of germs. (I work in an elementary school and it was a big challenge!)

    The neulasta shots should help you. My oncologist told me that after chemo your white count drops a little more each day and usually bottoms out between 7-10 days after the treatment. Neulasta is designed to release slowly to boost your white cells during that time.

    My husband has had that diverticulitis a couple times and now he knows certain things he can't eat because they can make it easier for an infection to start. His doctor has him taking a fiber supplement also to keep things moving. Maybe you could talk to a nutrionist or gastroentrologist about what might have caused the infection and what kinds of things you might avoid to keep that from coming back. That's a harder one to guard against.

    I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I'm glad you're getting better. Chemo is bad enough without the extra trip to the hospital. Hopefully the adjustments to your chemo and the neulasta will help! Drink LOTS of water all the time too - it will help flush your system of any nasty germs that might be lurking around waiting for your white count to drop!

    Wow I thought my count was low
    Thanks so much for answering. I am a nurse and forgot all about neupogen as I don't work in an area that uses it. I keep reading and learning more every day. I work in a one day surgery center where we have many mastectomy patients. I care for them when they stay overnight. I have many grandchildren and it is killing me to not see them much. I can't go near two of them for a month as they had the chickenpox vaccine recently.
  • mvannie
    mvannie Member Posts: 16
    #7
    mickeymom said:

    As if chemo wasn't enough.
    Neutropenia is no fun. I wasn't on T/C but A/C and I developed a neutopenic fever after my 4th treatment. I was hospitalized for 2 1/2 days with a white count of 160. I had been fighting a bad cold but then I developed a unirnary tract infection and the timing of those two infections on top of the chemo sent my white count plummeting. Lots of antibiotics and neupogen (a fast acting form of Neulasta)shots and I was all better. It never happened again but I was much more careful about hand sanitizer and staying away from crowds and places where there could be lots of germs. (I work in an elementary school and it was a big challenge!)

    The neulasta shots should help you. My oncologist told me that after chemo your white count drops a little more each day and usually bottoms out between 7-10 days after the treatment. Neulasta is designed to release slowly to boost your white cells during that time.

    My husband has had that diverticulitis a couple times and now he knows certain things he can't eat because they can make it easier for an infection to start. His doctor has him taking a fiber supplement also to keep things moving. Maybe you could talk to a nutrionist or gastroentrologist about what might have caused the infection and what kinds of things you might avoid to keep that from coming back. That's a harder one to guard against.

    I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I'm glad you're getting better. Chemo is bad enough without the extra trip to the hospital. Hopefully the adjustments to your chemo and the neulasta will help! Drink LOTS of water all the time too - it will help flush your system of any nasty germs that might be lurking around waiting for your white count to drop!

    Wow I thought mine was low!
    Thanks so much for answering. I am a nurse and forgot all about neupogen as I don't work in an area that uses it. I keep reading and learning more every day. I work in a one day surgery center where we have many mastectomy patients. I care for them when they stay overnight. I have many grandchildren and it is killing me to not see them much. I can't go near two of them for a month as they had the chickenpox vaccine recently.
  • mvannie
    mvannie Member Posts: 16
    #8
    mickeymom said:

    As if chemo wasn't enough.
    Neutropenia is no fun. I wasn't on T/C but A/C and I developed a neutopenic fever after my 4th treatment. I was hospitalized for 2 1/2 days with a white count of 160. I had been fighting a bad cold but then I developed a unirnary tract infection and the timing of those two infections on top of the chemo sent my white count plummeting. Lots of antibiotics and neupogen (a fast acting form of Neulasta)shots and I was all better. It never happened again but I was much more careful about hand sanitizer and staying away from crowds and places where there could be lots of germs. (I work in an elementary school and it was a big challenge!)

    The neulasta shots should help you. My oncologist told me that after chemo your white count drops a little more each day and usually bottoms out between 7-10 days after the treatment. Neulasta is designed to release slowly to boost your white cells during that time.

    My husband has had that diverticulitis a couple times and now he knows certain things he can't eat because they can make it easier for an infection to start. His doctor has him taking a fiber supplement also to keep things moving. Maybe you could talk to a nutrionist or gastroentrologist about what might have caused the infection and what kinds of things you might avoid to keep that from coming back. That's a harder one to guard against.

    I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I'm glad you're getting better. Chemo is bad enough without the extra trip to the hospital. Hopefully the adjustments to your chemo and the neulasta will help! Drink LOTS of water all the time too - it will help flush your system of any nasty germs that might be lurking around waiting for your white count to drop!

    anybody know how to delete a commet

    I tried to delete a comment after posting but I could only edit?
    My hair is falling out all over the computer as I write :(
    I think tomorrow will be buzz day.
  • 24242
    24242 Member Posts: 1,398 Member
    #9
    Happens
    Yes unfortunately it does happen and even having zero white cells you can survive. I too had the nueprogen shots to spurn bone marrow into production because I had no white cells to fight anything off and did my own 8 day stint in isolation. At that time they didn't even know what to do with nueprogen here so it was trial and error once they finally remembered there was such thing. They were going to do the blood transfusions when they finally phoned over to cancer clinic to get some advice.
  • greyhoundluvr
    greyhoundluvr Member Posts: 402
    #10
    So Sorry!
    I was started on the Neulasta with my first chemo so I haven't had the low blood counts but I did develop C-diff after my first round. 15 days of vancomycin and thankfully, no problems since. Good luck!

    Chris
  • cindycflynn
    cindycflynn Member Posts: 1,132 Member
    #11
    mvannie said:

    anybody know how to delete a commet

    I tried to delete a comment after posting but I could only edit?
    My hair is falling out all over the computer as I write :(
    I think tomorrow will be buzz day.

    Deleting a post
    I don't think you can actually delete one. When one of us gets the dreaded double (or sometimes triple or more) post syndrome, we just go to Edit and replace the Comment section with "Oops - Double Post!" or something to that effect.

    Welcome to the boards, although I'm sorry for the reason you're here, and to read about your difficult time with chemo. I did not have the complications you've been experiencing, so I can't offer any specific advice, but it looks like others have given you some useful information.

    Good luck with the hair - You'll probably feel much better after you buzz it. I know I did. My last chemo was on February 17th and today was my "unveiling" at work. I finally went without the hat/scarves. It's still VERY short, but I just got tired of wearing the hats after a while. You will get there, too!

    Take care,
    Cindy
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #12
    greyhoundluvr said:

    So Sorry!
    I was started on the Neulasta with my first chemo so I haven't had the low blood counts but I did develop C-diff after my first round. 15 days of vancomycin and thankfully, no problems since. Good luck!

    Chris

    I am also a nurse. best of
    I am also a nurse. best of luck keep us informed and ask questions as someone always has an answer. and everyone is willing to help!
  • mvannie
    mvannie Member Posts: 16
    #13
    carkris said:

    I am also a nurse. best of
    I am also a nurse. best of luck keep us informed and ask questions as someone always has an answer. and everyone is willing to help!

    OH NO
    It's now 10:30 pm and I have stomach pains nausea and a temp of 101. I don't want to go back to the hosp!!! I may call it quits because I don't know how much I can take. I thought I was a young 60 now I feel like 90.

Discussion Boards