Folfox6 question

DK2006
DK2006 Member Posts: 126
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi all!
Once again I want to thank you for your support! You guys are amazing!
I am a 46 year old female with stage 3a cancer. I just had my 4th treatment of Folfox 6 yesterday, and so far the side effects have been manageable. My blood work the previous day to chemo showed that my WBC really went down and in particular my neutrophils are down to 1000. I was given neupogen to start 24 hours after the"pump" comes off. Here is my question. For those of you who have been on Folfox 6, when did your WBC take the dive? All of my other blood work is still normal. In your experience, what other componets of your blood chemistry became abnormal with more treatments and when did it happen for you. Once again thanks for your information. It's really nice to touch base with people who have "been there and done that".

Comments

  • nanuk
    nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
    #2
    mine (wbc's,rbc's)went down to borderline, but not enough to get a booster-(Nupogen (SP), but counts really took a dive on CPT-11, and they gave me the booster-it really helped. You will find that enemia is usually a problem with most people on chemo.. Nanuk
  • CAMaura
    CAMaura Member Posts: 719 Member
    #3
    Hi there - my WBC dipped, but never enough to stop chemo or to need a booster shot; but my RBC did need a weekly shot to keep my counts high enough...I think I started that booster about session three. I hope this helps. All the best to you - Maura
  • andyc56
    andyc56 Member Posts: 42
    #4
    My wife Kim, age 45, was diagnosed stage IIIC in fall of 2004. She completed Folfox6 last May. Her WBC's were borderline to begin with, and she required Neupogen after the 2nd of 12 treatments, for the duration. She is currently NED and goes back to the oncologist next week for labs. etc. Feel free to email me if you have other questions.

    Andy
  • brianm
    brianm Member Posts: 16
    #5
    Hi,
    My husband is on Folfox6 and is now due his 12th dose.His blood count fell steadily throughout the treatments but it wasn't untill he was due his last one[wed last] that it had to be deferred. We hope it will be up again by this wed.It read 0.9 and the oncologist wants it over 1,[I think that might be same as 1000???] He has coped fairly well with the treatment,side-effects have been continuous tiredness and some neuropathy in his hands, a sore mouth for one of the sessions.He has never been given anything to help bring up his WCC.
    The rest of his bloodwork has stayed fairly normal and I think it is very important for you to eat well even though you may not always have an appetite.
    Take care and good luck with it.
    Jackie.
  • wendy_21
    wendy_21 Member Posts: 30
    #6
    Hi! I'm a 44 year old female with stage IIIa cancer. I have completed my 6th treatment of Folfox plus Avastin last week. My WBC count bottomed out after third chemo and they gave me one extra week before starting round four. Because I am in a study, they could not start the injections until after the one week break. At that time my WBC count returned to 1.0 so it was high enough to continue without injections. It was at 1.5 for round #6.
    The doctors haven't said anything is strange with the red blood cells yet, so I assume they are in the low range but high enough for chemo.
    My CEA count started at 4 pre-surgery, went tot 1.6 after surgery and then was 2.3 at the start of chemo. It was then 2.5 at round 3, 3.1, 3.5 and then down to 3.1 again. The doctor said these were all in the "normal" range and that they didn't indicate much of anything at this point because the rise could be caused from inflammation and the chemo itself.
    The only other strange thing that is going on with the blood work now is that I had a rash reaction to the avastin during rounds 4 and 5. They are premedicating heavily with dekadron and benadryl. My blood sugar was high for both rounds 5 and 6 and the urine count showed ketones from sugar also. The doctor even asked if i had ever had high blood sugar or if anyone was diabetic in my family (I didn't and no one is). I did some research and found that the dekadron can cause increases in blood sugar, but she doesn't think it should be as high as it was. We agreed to give it one more round of chemo and if it is still high, I will forgo the dekadron for round 8 and have the blood sugar checked again to see if that fixesthe new problem.

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