Anyone else have great immune system, in spite of cancer?

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clariceak
clariceak Member Posts: 752

I think it's strange.  Since my dx I went through chemo with super low white blood counts, (my onc almost lowered my dose), radiation, surgery and I never had a cold. Not one.  Even though members of my family and coworkers are constantly sick around me.

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  • Ellie1959
    Ellie1959 Member Posts: 316
    edited February 2011

    I'm like that too - and I'm 5 years out. I've had 15 surgeries - chemo and radiation all within the last 5 years and I think I've had one cold, one tummy flu and a couple of UTI's and sinus infections. I was sick a lot more before treatment! Now I think I am bionic!!! Maybe that damn cancer will just stay away!

  • geewhiz
    geewhiz Member Posts: 1,439
    edited February 2011

    I wonder about this too!

    I haven't had so much as the sniffles since diagnosis awhile ago....my kids have had stomach flu, colds...you name it. I am pretty hard core with juicing, supplements etc...but I have heard that some of the vaccine therapies work base on the premise that our immune systems need to flex their muscles occasionally.

  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited February 2011

    same here...the bitter irony is --as is the case with so many of us-- i always enjoyed perfect health. no allergies, no colds, no sinus blah blah blah - really.

    yes, even during chemo i was never sick, thank God.

  • Alpal
    Alpal Member Posts: 1,785
    edited February 2011

    Same here, and I'm on constant chemo! Have had WBCs so low that I've needed Neulasta, but not with the current chemo. Everyone in the family got the stomach flu the day after Christmas - not me!  Now that I've said this, I'll probably get sick tomorrow!

  • Octobergirl
    Octobergirl Member Posts: 334
    edited February 2011

    Same for me too. I spent last week with my sister and she came down with a wicked virus. We were in close quarters and shared food. I fully expected to get sick but didn't.  Last year, my appendix ruptured  and we were iced in for 4 days before I could get to the hospital. The only reason I didn't die was that my body walled off the infection...that was just 2 months after I finished chemo and radiation. My white counts are always low too.

  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited February 2011

    Don't want to jinx myself, but yes, I'm pretty healthy except for BC....same as before Dx, but I do suffer from sinus problems....

  • 116
    116 Member Posts: 108
    edited December 2012

    Funny you should bring this up since I was just thinking about this. I also do not want to jink myself, but I have not been sick one time since chemo. I am three years out in July. I used to get a bad cold and a cough twice a year. I was just wondering if it is because of this juice I drink every day. I eat pretty good, no high fructose corn syrup (this stuff is poison and I am convienced is the reason for obesity in the US, particularly with our youth), white flour, white sugar, and very little junk food, additives, or anything in a can or a box, but I am not a health nut or anything, but just don't feel good when I eat that stuff. I also can not digest meat since chemo so avoid it. Mostly fruits, vegetable and beans, a bread made from sprouted grain, and such. I do have a weakness for cheese, but stay away from most animal products since I just feel bad about how our animals are raised prior to being a product, but not really a vegetarian and I drink strong coffee. Anyway I started drinking this juice just because it tastes good, It is Bolthouse Farms brand called Immunity Support C-Boost Fruit Smoothy, and it has mango, acerola cherries, and apple juice, camu camu fruit, and maitake mushrooms. It tastes really really good and has 1200% vitamin C and claims it is good for your immune system. I was just wondering if this was why everyone around me is so sick and I have not even got a sniffle? All the other flavors of Bolthouse are really good too. I can only find at Top Foods and QFC, and it is a little expensive, but since it is really kind of my meal, my breakfast this juice with toast, and I don't do the donuts-coffee stand, I justify the cost.

  • linn2u
    linn2u Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2011

    You know?  Mine was Stage IV, I was 40 years old and it was in 1987! Given only a 3% survival rate for 3 to 6 months. Made it!  I do get the usual short term flus, never a cold -- had fibromyalgia from 13 broken implants!!  But, I do have a good immune system -- and I used to get counts of 1 and have to wait!  And still my counts do not usually go above 3 -  and I have had all the stress anyone could handle [not boasting lol!] and no C.  Simply will not tolerate it!  So, our immune system is just that a SYSTEM that includes much more than our counts!  I will bet that there are a lot of them.  My biggest problem around BC is that after all those implants gone wrong, I went Amazonian since 1995 and my Doc says I will need the weight or even the bra straps to pull my shoulder into place.  [apparently Yoga is not enough] And am I finding the changes since 1995!  Not your grandmother's corsets anymore!

  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited February 2011

    Yep, I've noticed that too. I didn't want to say it out loud today when I realized that  everyone in my area is sick right now. When I say everyone -  I am not blowing it out of proportions.  My desk mates on either side, the person in the office across from me, diagonally across, down the hall to the right two offices and to the left one office.  It's insane - everyone has a cold of some sort - all at the same time.  We are going through Kleenex, Clorox wipes and soap like crazy - most of us are germ freaks.  We've had several episodes in which a lot of people have gotten sick or it's gone from one to the other, but the "bug" passed me up - I guess it's the consolation prize......

  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited February 2011

    linn2u...thank you so much for posting your story.....almost 24 years!!!! wow....somthing to aspire for....CONGRATS!! Karen

  • weety
    weety Member Posts: 1,163
    edited February 2011

    Not to damper anyone, BUT. . . my onc said that when you have a LOW immune system (esp low WBC) you usually don't experience as many symtoms, that's why during chemo you have to take a fever as a huge sign that your body is trying to fight something off--there just aren't enough WBC's to fight it the normal way.  I noticed (and still do) that I rarely get cold symtoms and when I do, they are usually just slightly there--more like a tickle in my throat.  I don't know what to make of all this.  It's just something else to think about.  Maybe someone else knows more???

  • Ellie1959
    Ellie1959 Member Posts: 316
    edited February 2011

    weety- I think you have something there - I have a normal immune system - I think my white count is usually around 4 - but I feel the onset symptoms almost all the time, like a runny nose, sinus headaches, and I used to get urinary tract infections with horrid symptoms - now even though I usually have them - I don't get the burning - maybe some urgency but that is it. I often feel like I am on the verge of something but it doesn't materialize.........., weird.

  • Alpal
    Alpal Member Posts: 1,785
    edited February 2011

    linn - please, please go over to the Stage IV forum and post your story. It will bring so much hope to all of us over there!

  • weety
    weety Member Posts: 1,163
    edited February 2011

    Ellie, what a great way to describe it:  "I often feel like I am on the verge of something but it doesn't materialize. . ."  That is exactly what happens to me--A  LOT!!!!  I will come home from work with a slight, slight sore throat, and I'll think, uh-oh, I'm coming down with a cold.  Then it's gone by the next morning.  I always chalked it up to a great immune system.  Now, after bc, I'm not so sure. . .

  • stephanie1
    stephanie1 Member Posts: 131
    edited February 2011

    I have to chime in on this too. I have the same thing happening. I even flew to Africa over Christmas on like 8 different flights and did not get sick. At that time of year I fully expected to get some type of cold etc. I had a slight sore throat while on vacation and thought well here comes the cold. But nothing materialized. I ate everything and brushed my teeth with water out of the tap and I never got stomach sick. Perhaps all of this is just coincidence?

  • amlg1
    amlg1 Member Posts: 596
    edited February 2011

    I don't want to jinx myself either,but I did have a good immune system before BC,and it stll is good.I have hardly been getting my migraines anymore.Like I said I don't want to jinx myself:D

  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited February 2011

    I wonder if any of it has to do with us being more aware of germ transference.  I'm sure we all washed our hands and were clean.  But............do you find you are MORE careful about touching your face, washing your hands more often and the wipedown of handles, purse bottoms, keyboards, phones and counters with disinfectant wipes?

  • azs40
    azs40 Member Posts: 99
    edited February 2011

    Yup...me too. I have wondered about this. I have a four-year-old in pre-school, who has a runny nose every few weeks, and still - I don't catch colds like I used to. My husband will get a cold and I'll still dodge the bullet. And, I agree with whoever said it up there - I think something's going to materialize into something bigger, but it doesn't. (I'm knocking on wood as I write this.) And, while I was really conscious of germs while on chemo (constantly washing hands, owning stock in hand sanitizer, no cheek-kissing with friends,etc.), I've gone back to being less vigilant.

    Strange. 

  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited February 2011

    Also not wanting to jinx myself, but I've been wondering the same thing.  My white count has never recovered, and I've become far less vigilant the further out from chemo I get, but everyone but I seem to just feel like I'm coming down with something......then I'm better.  Weird.

  • Cat123
    Cat123 Member Posts: 296
    edited February 2011

    I have felt great!  I have completed 4 rounds of AC and just started Taxol yesterday.  So many friends of had colds, etc. but I have been okay!

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