Neutropenic after chemo

jayeroche
jayeroche Member Posts: 16
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
So, got rid of the heartburn and now I'm Neutropenic. The doc didn't think I would dip this low, so now I will receive the "shot" after chemo from now on. So aside from missing a good fresh salad, I developed a low grade fever this morn. 100.0. I took tylenol and thankfully it has come down. I am staying home all week and my wbc's will be rechecked on Friday. I was told that 7-10 days after chemo it should be the lowest. I'm at 11 days, so I think they'll start coming back up. Anyone else with this problem? What do you eat and have you had any fevers?

Comments

  • mariam_11_09
    mariam_11_09 Member Posts: 691 Member
    #2
    Hi there, I was neutropenic
    Hi there, I was neutropenic pretty much the whole way through chemo. It is not uncommon and in fact is a known side effect of the breast cancer chemos. Fortunately for me, I only had a mild cold in the spring after starting chemo and after that I had the shots and was fine. I washed my hands a lot, asked friends if their kids were sick before visiting and was careful what I touched in public. I did continue to eat as normal - salads, grilled meat, fruit, juiced veggies and did eat veggies from my garden however everyone is different and it is necessary to proceed with caution. My Oncologist said I could do whatever I did before chemo and not introduce anything new.

    Take care.
  • jayeroche
    jayeroche Member Posts: 16
    #3
    mariam_11_09 said:

    Hi there, I was neutropenic
    Hi there, I was neutropenic pretty much the whole way through chemo. It is not uncommon and in fact is a known side effect of the breast cancer chemos. Fortunately for me, I only had a mild cold in the spring after starting chemo and after that I had the shots and was fine. I washed my hands a lot, asked friends if their kids were sick before visiting and was careful what I touched in public. I did continue to eat as normal - salads, grilled meat, fruit, juiced veggies and did eat veggies from my garden however everyone is different and it is necessary to proceed with caution. My Oncologist said I could do whatever I did before chemo and not introduce anything new.

    Take care.

    Thanks again for your input.
    Thanks again for your input. I think once I start with the shots, I will be less stressed out over it. My numbers are real low and the fever made me nervous. I'm telling my husband, the kids and anyone around to wash their hands and don't breathe in my face. I'm. 11 days post 1st chemo, so hopefully I'm on the going back up side of things.
    Thanks again,

    Janis
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #4
    jayeroche said:

    Thanks again for your input.
    Thanks again for your input. I think once I start with the shots, I will be less stressed out over it. My numbers are real low and the fever made me nervous. I'm telling my husband, the kids and anyone around to wash their hands and don't breathe in my face. I'm. 11 days post 1st chemo, so hopefully I'm on the going back up side of things.
    Thanks again,

    Janis

    I got the Neulasta shot after my first 5 chemos
    Then, because I was doing so well, my onc. decided I didn't need the last one after the sixth treatment. Unfortunately, 10 days after my 6th treatment, I ended up with a neutropenic fever/infection and in the hospital for 5 days. We never did find the source of fever/infection, but because my white count was so low, I was unable to fight it off without treatment so I was pretty much in isolation and on IV vancomycin and leviquan for 5 days and then sent home with antibiotics. They monitored my blood every day and gradually my WBC came up to a safe enough level for me to go home. Not fun--but for me that Neulasta shot was very important.

    Good luck to you.

    Hugs, Renee
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #5
    missrenee said:

    I got the Neulasta shot after my first 5 chemos
    Then, because I was doing so well, my onc. decided I didn't need the last one after the sixth treatment. Unfortunately, 10 days after my 6th treatment, I ended up with a neutropenic fever/infection and in the hospital for 5 days. We never did find the source of fever/infection, but because my white count was so low, I was unable to fight it off without treatment so I was pretty much in isolation and on IV vancomycin and leviquan for 5 days and then sent home with antibiotics. They monitored my blood every day and gradually my WBC came up to a safe enough level for me to go home. Not fun--but for me that Neulasta shot was very important.

    Good luck to you.

    Hugs, Renee

    Stressed out
    Janis, I know how it feels to be so stressed out when your white blood cell counts dip low. I also did Taxotere/Cytoxan, and my doctor wanted to try the first one without the Neulasta shot -- some people end up not needing it, and I agreed with him about not wanting to take drugs if I didn't need them.

    Unfortunately, my WBC counts took a nose dive after the first round -- I never actually ran a fever, but I was SOOO paranoid....I work full-time in an office, and I took my thermometer with me to work -- picture me sitting at my desk, with a thermometer in my mouth (at least it was an ORAL thermometer! :-o), surrounded by multiple bottles of hand sanitizer.

    And the Neulasta shot turned out to be no big deal for me. There definitely are women who experience a lot of pain with it, and I was TERRIFIED of it, but I was lucky that I just got achiness in my legs (achey like when you have the flu) for a couple of days, and never needed anything stronger than ibuprofen for it.

    So I'll hope that you have just as easy a time, and that the Neulasta "encourages" your white blood cells to be out and proud next time!

    :-) Traci
  • jayeroche
    jayeroche Member Posts: 16
    #6
    TraciInLA said:

    Stressed out
    Janis, I know how it feels to be so stressed out when your white blood cell counts dip low. I also did Taxotere/Cytoxan, and my doctor wanted to try the first one without the Neulasta shot -- some people end up not needing it, and I agreed with him about not wanting to take drugs if I didn't need them.

    Unfortunately, my WBC counts took a nose dive after the first round -- I never actually ran a fever, but I was SOOO paranoid....I work full-time in an office, and I took my thermometer with me to work -- picture me sitting at my desk, with a thermometer in my mouth (at least it was an ORAL thermometer! :-o), surrounded by multiple bottles of hand sanitizer.

    And the Neulasta shot turned out to be no big deal for me. There definitely are women who experience a lot of pain with it, and I was TERRIFIED of it, but I was lucky that I just got achiness in my legs (achey like when you have the flu) for a couple of days, and never needed anything stronger than ibuprofen for it.

    So I'll hope that you have just as easy a time, and that the Neulasta "encourages" your white blood cells to be out and proud next time!

    :-) Traci

    Thanks for the responses. I
    Thanks for the responses. I have been running a low grade fever for the past 2 nights, but the doc said no need to call unless it's over 100.5. So it's been at 100.0. Tylenol brings it down and I haven't had any other symptoms. But my daughter is coughing and sneezing and I keep telling her to stay away from me. I feel real bad. She's 11 and wants mommy to comfort her. I have her wearing one kind of mask and I wear another. I am very afraid of having to go into the hospital. My labs will be rechecked on Friday so I'm hoping I'm just at the lowest now and it should start coming back up. I am also paranoid of what I can eat. I just cook everything. I miss salad... thanks again.

    Janis

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