anemia

Jennifer1961
Jennifer1961 Member Posts: 137
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi. Just got my blood checked after round 5 of TAC. As usual my white count was low, but for the first time my red count was low, just above 8. No wonder I'm so damned tired! I have to go back on Wed. to get it checked again, if it goes below 8 I'll have to get a transfusion. For some reason the thought of a transfusion scares the crap out of me. Risk of desease, risk of allergic reaction, etc. The oncologist thinks I may rally and build up my red cells on my own. Has anyone had this happen? I have 5 days to "rally"

Comments

  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #2
    Yes .. this happened to me frequently, please note that
    I endure 'dense dose' - UCLA chemo treatments ..

    When this happened to me .. I was normally put under 'house arrest' ..never to leave my home for days and weeks at a time. The only traveling I did for months was back and forth to my Oncologist's office for weekly chemo, testing at the hospital and occasional visits to my Infectious Disease doctor or Plastic Surgeon. It is a miserable way to live, but doable and in the long run .. worth saving your life, mental being and physcial body. In time .. WBC and Red will rebound.

    I did have blood transfusions, but all blood came directly from my family or friends.

    Now for the foods that I consumed .. RED Meat - lot's and lots, Fish and almonds.

    Good Luck ... I don't recall seeing anything about what your Ono recommended ?


    Vicki Sam
  • Katz77
    Katz77 Member Posts: 598
    #3
    Towards the end of my
    Towards the end of my treatment my RBC's dipped down to around 9 I think. They gave me a shot of....duhhhh. It began with an A. I didnt have to have blood trans. I also started taking B-12. That was totally my idea. Ask if they have a shot that begins w an A. Sorry, alot of my brain died during chemo. lol Katz
  • knitterjan
    knitterjan Member Posts: 20
    #4
    Transfusion
    Jennifer, I had anemia one time while I was taking Taxol treatments. Had to go to the hospital and had two units of blood put in me. Unfortunately they didn't get the blood until about midnight and it took until 4:00am until it was all in. They came in each hour to check my vitals, so I didn't get any sleep. Then in the morning no one came through to release me to go home. I finally made enough fuss that the nurse called an onc, mine was in China at the time. The good news was that I had no ill effects, just annoying ones. My onc suggested I take Slow FE (iron) to keep the counts up. I actually didn't take it then, but I will probably start now. I'm beginning a new chemo (Gemzar) and see that anemia is one of the possible side-effects.

    I hope you avoid the problem completely.
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #5
    knitterjan said:

    Transfusion
    Jennifer, I had anemia one time while I was taking Taxol treatments. Had to go to the hospital and had two units of blood put in me. Unfortunately they didn't get the blood until about midnight and it took until 4:00am until it was all in. They came in each hour to check my vitals, so I didn't get any sleep. Then in the morning no one came through to release me to go home. I finally made enough fuss that the nurse called an onc, mine was in China at the time. The good news was that I had no ill effects, just annoying ones. My onc suggested I take Slow FE (iron) to keep the counts up. I actually didn't take it then, but I will probably start now. I'm beginning a new chemo (Gemzar) and see that anemia is one of the possible side-effects.

    I hope you avoid the problem completely.

    mangos are one of the few
    mangos are one of the few fruits that have iron and good fiber too! hope the cells improve without need of transfusion
  • Jennifer1961
    Jennifer1961 Member Posts: 137
    #6
    thanks
    Thanks everyone. I asked the onc. about foods, but he didn't seem to think any food would help. He also mentioned that the drugs they use to increase red cells may "feed" the cancer. Was also thinking about eating liver. I will also hit the almonds.
  • linpsu
    linpsu Member Posts: 747
    #7
    transfusions
    I had to get 2 transfusions during my chemo regimen b/c my red cell count was in the 7's. It wasn't scary at all - it was just like chemo. It did take a long time to get it all in, though. I had an allergic reaction (nothing too serious, just itching all over, which also happened when I got most of my chemo injections), so they had to slow it down. I think it took about 4 hours (2 units). I felt a lot better afterwards.
    Good luck,
    Linda

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