My 5th chemo was cancelled today due to low platelet counts

hopeful girl 1
hopeful girl 1 Member Posts: 454
edited March 2014 in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
Hi all.

Was scheduled to get my 5th chemo today. My white counts needed to come up and they did come up alittle bit from last week, WBC now 2.3 and Neutrophils now 1.6, but hemaglobin dropped to 9.0 and platelets to 79 (should be 150-400), so chemo was not allowed. I was a bit relieved as I would like the opportunity for white counts to hopefully come up alittle higher as well, so they have more room to drop after next chemo.

Is this pretty common? Did anyone else have their chemos postponed a week of two due to counts?

Thank you all!

Comments

  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980 Member
    #2
    I had delays for each of my last 3 carbo/taxols.
    After the 1st 3 unfusions, I started having trouble keeping my hemoglobin and platelets at levels safe enough for chemo. Each of my last 3 carbo/raxol rounds I had a week's delay AND a blood transfusion. My final 6rg carbo/taxol I had to wait 10 days, have a transfusion and a Nuelasta shot, and get the final round at 80% strength. This type of delay is very common. You did good to get 4 rounds in before you started to have some challenges. Chemo doesn't seem to be an exacting science. There is a recommended number of days between infusions, but every person's cancer and evey person's body strengths are VERY individual. So listening to the signals your particular body gives you is a good strategy.

    Carbo/taxol must be a really tough combo on your bone marrow, because I was able to get all 17 rounds of single-agent taxol for my recurrence with no delays or problems (although I did get routine Neupogens for my white count every week of the taxol); and I had no problem with my counts for my first Doxil round.
  • Michaelynn
    Michaelynn Member Posts: 85 Member
    #3
    Low Platelets before chemo # 6
    I had low platelets when I went in for chemo #6. They were 55,000 and the Doctor said they should be at least 100,000 to do the carbo/taxol. So I waited a week and went back to have them checked again. they were 94,000 but the Doctor decided since it was my last treatment to go ahead and give me the infusion. Having that extra week to get better really made a big difference in how well I felt when I had chemo #6. So even though I didn't want to wait a week since this was my last infusion I guess it was a blessing since I felt so much better for that whole week.
  • hopeful girl 1
    hopeful girl 1 Member Posts: 454
    #4
    Michaelynn said:

    Low Platelets before chemo # 6
    I had low platelets when I went in for chemo #6. They were 55,000 and the Doctor said they should be at least 100,000 to do the carbo/taxol. So I waited a week and went back to have them checked again. they were 94,000 but the Doctor decided since it was my last treatment to go ahead and give me the infusion. Having that extra week to get better really made a big difference in how well I felt when I had chemo #6. So even though I didn't want to wait a week since this was my last infusion I guess it was a blessing since I felt so much better for that whole week.

    Low Counts
    Thank you everyone for comments.

    I feel like it was a blessing to have the 5th chemo postponed as well, while I would like to stay on schedule, my body needs more time to recup. Originally it was the white count that was the lowest when I had the bloodtest 2 weeks after the 4th chemo, and then when I had the bloodtest one week later, the white counts had come up a bit (although still below normal) but the hemaglobin and platelets had dropped. Platelets are 79,000. My oncologist thinks they will come up within a week. I am hoping with this extra time that my white counts can come up even further, so they will have more room to drop after the 5th chemo. Of course now I am concerned I will have issues with all three white, hemaglobin and platelets for these last 2 chemos. My oncologist is very nonchalant about it, as I guess he is so used to dealing with this all the time. I don't think my oncologist uses those shots to boost counts.

    Linda mentioned that the taxol/carbo must be rough on platelets and counts. I know my oncologist mentioned that because of the platelet reduction he is going to lower the dose on the carbo a bit (perhaps the carbo is the culprit???)

    Appreciate in advance any further comments.


    Strength, hope and happiness to all!

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