Blood Counts after Chemo

ch5203

I just had my blood work done for my 3 month checkup since Chemo ended on December 1.  My WBC and RBC are both slightly low.  WBC is 4.2 normal is 4.5 and RBC is 4.18 normal is 4.2.  I know these are not significant differences but does it take awhile for you blood to get back to normal after chemo? 

otter

ch5203, yes, it does take awhile for the bone marrow to get back to normal.

I just checked my lab results for the reference ranges, and your results are above the lower end of the reference range for both WBC and RBC.  I know lab values need to be compared to the reference ranges for that particular lab, but in this case your results are awfully close even to your lab's ranges.

I am not a doc, but IMHO, you should not worry about those results.  I'll bet if they repeated the tests tomorrow, you'd be right in that "normal" range.

otter 

azsunn

I'm still waiting for mine to climb back.  I finished chemo end of May 2008 and herceptin Feb 2009. Mine are just now approaching normal ranges. 

Emily2008

Yup, mine were both low, too.  Took a little over 3 months for me to get back in the "normal" range, and even at that, my "normal" is on the low side.  When I was testing lower, nobody at the onc's office seemed particularly concerned, so I wasn't either.  It'll come back up.

ch5203

Hey Everyone, 

 Thank you all so much for your feedback.  It all made me feel so much better.  I had the blood work done yesterday and fortunately I was able to get the results right away.  I had myself a complete basket case waiting.  Tomorrow is the apointment with the doctor.  I am still nervous but now that I know my blood work is okay, everything should go well. 

 Thank you all again.  It is so good to have a place to go to with people who understand exactly what you are going through.

kaholl

Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed in May "08"/Stage IIa/ 1 node/Mutilfocal.  I just went for a 4 month check up last week.  My blood work was fine.  My onco ordered a hemocult for me since I was previous anemic during chemo.  All 3 slides tested positive for blood in stool.  I have no symptons.  I am scheduled for a colonoscopy on Tuesday. GI seems to think everything is fine.  Does anyone have any information on this? Thanks for your support.

sweetlady2

I think that is is fairly common for people to have slightly low counts after chemo. I heard that University of Minnisota is doing a study on breast cancer where they are using capsules of turkey Tail mushrooms for women who have completed chemotherapy.  they are measuring whether the mushrooms help with the chronic ly low white count after chemo. These mushrooms have been used for cancer in Asia for a long time. The study is onling so we don't know if it will work.

I hunt and harvest all sorts of wild mushrooms anyway, so I got a lot of the turkey tails--you can even find them in the winter--and drink them as tea every day. check with your oncologist before doing this.

The study has the blessing of the FDA. Here is a link to some information about the study.

http://www.csh.umn.edu/csh/about/news/turkeytail/home.html

smbc09

Although your lab results don't seem too bad they should always be taken with some importance. I say this after a complete change in mind. I used to think as long as I felt okay, had a little energy, and didn't physically look to bad or pale, then I was fine. I ignored the fatigue, blew off the chest pain (probably out of fear more then anything), and figured the shortness of breath was just me being out of shape since I don't have the energy to exercise.

Well when I went to my last appt I finally told the doc how awful I felt and how much trouble I was having and after my blood work came back I was called urgently and admitted to the hospital for pancytopenia. Not to worry you because I was naive and just didn't want to believe I needed to go into the hospital. You're labs are NOT nearly as low but do be careful and I wish you the best of luck!