Hi all,
I had my first chemo on Aug 20. Not too bad. Anti-sickness pills worked. Spent 4 days in bed feeling rough, improved a lot after that and felt pretty fit. I was then surprised when my blood count came back too low to allow me the 2nd dose of chemo. Apparently it should be 1 and I scored 0.5. Have had a 2nd bood test today and am waiting for the results. If all is well I should have the 2nd dose on Weds.
Has anyone else had this? I’m so annoyed as I’d psyched myself up for chemo and then had to wait another week. And this is only the first round. If this happens every time then the course will run for 6 weeks longer than expected.
What happens if I don’t make it this time. How long can chemo be delayed?
Thanks for any help.
I think most people have it delayed about a week. I’ve been lucky so far and not had any delays but the second round hit me hard and my bloods dropped to 0.6 10 days after the dose but had recovered enough by the next dose 11 days later. since then they’ve been around 1.5 at the mid point each time so even if yours are low now it doesn’t mean they will be every time. They do recover really quickly too, in a matter of days. Because of the bank holiday recently I had an extra day which I spent having fun and my count increased dramatically (higher than when I started actually).
Try and relax and have fun as much as you can… laughter is literally the best medicine apparently (although I recommend mushrooms and chicken soup too personally).
Good luck
Angie
Hi Valentine
I had quite low counts to start with and got delayed for my 3rd and 4th FEC. After that I was given GCSF injections which get the bone marrow producing more blood cells. It worked but they didn’t jump as much as I’d hoped and still were pretty much borderline for the next 2 doses. Not all HA’s give these (they’re quite expensive so I hear) but it may be worth asking. After all they’re probably cheaper than if you became really ill and need to be in hospital for a few days with low neuts.
It is really annoying to have chemo delayed but each time we (OH and I) made the most of an extra ‘good’ week. Having said that if it had happened every time I would have been well p*ssed off so know how you feel. After my 1st 5-6 days of feeling grot after chemo I also bounced back each time and certainly didn’t feel like my counts were low as I didn’t have any infections, mouth ulcers etc so it’s really tricky to tell.
Hope your bloods pick up and you get your chemo. I don’t know how long they will delay it for but I’m sure someone else may be able to help.
Nicky
Hi Valentine,
Like you my blood count was too low for me to have my 2nd dose of FEC at 0.84 (I was told 1.5 was the threshold). I also felt generally ok, apart from the initial feeling sick so was very surprised and abit miffed as I’d got psyched up for chemo. Maybe I should have expected problems as it was only 1.94 to start with so already low - apparently this was because of having surgery (SNB) only 3 weeks before.
So my FEC no.2 was delayed one week and since then, for FEC no.3 and also now in preparation of FEC no.4 I’ve been giving myself injections of the drug which boosts your count. (I could have had this done in hospital but an hour and a half round trip plus a no doubt lengthy wait didn’t appeal, so I overcame my fear and have been injecting myself - which actually isn’t too bad - I have to inject for 3 days the week before my chemo is due) The count has continued to remain fairly low but thankfully still above the threshold and as Valentine said, I think they’d rather avoid hospital stays due to infections, plus my consultant said they really do not want to keep delaying the chemo as this may make the chemo less effective. So I would definitely ask your consultant/breast care nurse about this as an option.
Good Luck!
Sarah x
Thanks ladies,
Things went well this week and my count was 3.5. Had my 2nd dose of FEC yesterday. Met 2 other ladies who were there previously who had also been delayed a week, so guess it is a fairly common occurence.
I now have the GCSF injections and the district nurse will be coming to adminster them for 5 days. Much easier then travelling to the hospital.
Thanks again for your support and hope you are all keeping well
Valetine