I also walked my dogs twice a day all through chemo - didn’t always want too, but glad I had to - always made me fell better.
I am due to have my second fec cycle on thursday so don’t know how my bloods are holding up, but the week after cycle 1, i was neutrophenic (0.8). I asked my bcn and oncologist what i could do to raise them and they said much as others seem to have, ie. nothing is proven to help, try and eat well and have exercise etc. The first week after chemo my appetite was nil and i had to force myself to eat, now it is back on track, but i have had cravings like when i was pregnant. I don’t drink usually, but i started thinking about a can of guiness and had to have one, i hate h guiness, ales, lager etc usually! I couldn’t drink it all but really enjoyed the half a glass i had! I also nearly knocked down a queue of people at our garden centre cafe to get steak pudding, chips, peas and gravy and then had a big slice of victoria sponge for afters! Not my usual balanced diet, just what i really needed, and after 10 days of not eating much or enjoying it, i thought it was great!
Back to the point about oncologists just doling our injections etc, my best friend is an oncology consultant specialising in breast cancer ( ironic i know, yet handy to have my own “personal” doctor on hand) and she has said theres nothing much you can do to raise your neutrophene levels, and its just the injections that can help, so her view was not to spend my cash on the honey etc.
I tried the manuka max strenth honey and it didnt work. I then tried eating mushrooms daily as suggested by a chinese nurse,it worked the first month, but that was all, as I got to death of them.
Someone I met at Oncology swore by a daily tot of whiskey and always had good neuts.
x
Well I had my 1st tax yesterday - bloods were better than after my first FEC. Not sure what did it but I thought i’d just post things that i’d done in case it helps anyone else.
It might just be coincidence but as well as eating a handful of strawberries every day during week 2, I also drank a liter of pomegranate juice over the 3 days befor chemo - someone had suggested this to my OH.
I also tried to eat a lot healthier - not too healthy though and went foe gentle walks with next doors dog.
The other reason for my higher counts might be because I had a cold last week - a friend who used to be a nurse suggested that the counts might be raised as the cells were having to fight off infection.
I’m going to stick with the strawberries and pomegranate juice - a lot nicer than having a cold.
Michele