Low WBC 1 year after stage 1 bc surgery and radiation

I hate you ask you this but have you had an MRI or Petscan for mets? My sternum has been a little swollen for years, they say nothing. I have a missing primary tumor, so I worry that it's behind the sternum... My WBC has been 3. something for years as well.

My wbc have been just below normal since the end of active treatment. I don't think this is unusual and neither my Pcp nor oncologist were concerned. I am just over 2 years out from active treatment and my wbc are still right around the lower end of normal.

Try not to worry and keep monitoring your health.

MsP

HI, not sure if this helps, but my WBC prior to cancer tx was usually around 6

ever since its been consistently low. normally now about 3.8

Other than frequent colds and easy to pick up sinus infections doctors don't seem concerned.

I hope the cause of your low WBC is nothing too!

Diagnosed 5years ago. My WBC remains low. Usually less than 3. MO says it's because my lymphocytes are bringing it down. That reading was 0.5. My MO thinks if it was caused by RADs, it would have corrected itself by now. Low white count can be caused by Tamoxifen, although very far down on the list. I almost never get sick. So, I guess my low count is good enough.

Your WBC may have dropped post-chemo, not because you began Tamoxifen. My MO says that low WBC is fairly common in the year after chemo.

It seems common for years, unfortunately. Mine go down from time to time and for me (you can see from my sig)tx was a while ago. I just had my 5 month check up and my total WBC was in the low normal, but the neutrophils and others were in a tiny bit in the low range. But I always feel fine when my CBC reports a bit low (never catastrophically low!) and so now just blame chemo, rads, etc.

I am also vegetarian, and the only dairy I eat is organic. I read somewhere that vegans/vegetarians often have lower WBC counts simply because our white counts aren't fighting the pathogens of meat, which is often contaminated (but not enough to make us sick) FWIW.

Claire

mine were also on the low end of normal for a full year after chemo (also had rads).My onc said it just takes a while for your body to bounce back. Last week my WBC was 5.5 - still lower than before all of my bc treatment but going in the right direction.

Thanks, Boys62 and kcat2013. My MO has delayed my next Herceptin; she's doing another CBC with a manual slide review in two weeks (when I get my next Zoladex) and we'll go from there. I'm going to worst-case-scenario over here, but that's how my brain works. Damn it all.

Raleighgirl, my oncologist is also a hematologist, and she says that the effects of chemo (aka low WBC) can last for up to TWO YEARS.

Mine came up a bit on the last CBC (bounced up to 3.3 from 3.0), but she's still testing it again in a month.

Try not to worry. I went to all kinds of dark places, only to find out that this is part of what "normal" looks like after chemo.

Hi there, curious as to whether your wbc came back to normal. I too have this 7 weeka post the end of rads only. Very concerned its not due to something else. I am awaited now for test 2 I took this a.m. 1 week post the last test ans seeing my doc at 2:30 p.m.