Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) Support Group

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), also known as acute myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells. Patients with AML usually present with symptoms such as fatigue, bleeding, infection, prompting medical attention. An abnormal blood test reading will then result in further testing in a hospital with a hematologist to determine AML.

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chicagomomof3 04/14/2015

Anyone have experience with their ANC not coming up? I'm on day 50 of my last chemo cycle. All treatment is done. All my counts are slowly rising except my ANC which has dropped over past week and is back down to .09! My local hematologist isn't concerned but my hematologist at Loyola says although she isn't concerned yet, she would do a bone marrow biopsy in a week or two if ANC didn't improve. There are no blasts showing in blood which is why Drs aren't concerned. I do and have had a mild cold for about two weeks but Drs say that won't effect ANC. anyone have any insight?

Noodle65 04/14/2015

Chicago mom,

My issue was always platelets. After two years, they still are not in the normal range but as Dave b say s, I just don't run with scissors. After four rounds of consolidation, your bone marrow is struggling to recover. I would not be concerned about the potential bmb. I had one on between every consolidation due to such slow recovery and it gave me a sense of comfort. I do believe a virus can negatively effect anc. If you search this site for slow count recovery you will see several posts that demonstrate this. I truly believe your marrow will start working as God designed it.

Blessings
Julie

worriedmom2014 04/15/2015

Jeremy has the same problem (after sct) and now at almost month 8 his whites are finally starting to grow.

Hugs and prayers.

Karen

hope2all 04/15/2015

Yes, the marrow can get "fatigued" after several rounds of chemo, & take a bit more time to recover. Viral infections, such as a cold, can sometimes cause your neutrophils to drop too. I hope that helps. It's reassuring your doctors aren't too concern, & that everything else is heading upwards. I know how it feels scrutinising every little change in your blood test results, and worrying it might be the leukemia, but there are definitely other reasons likely to explain the low count. I hope it won't be too long before the counts are all up. Take care & much love xxx

amesch1 04/15/2015

After 7 rounds of chemotherapy, I had my fair share of low counts. During treatments my ANC and WBC would usually peak around 2.6-3.1 and then go back down. Most times I had just enough ANC to start the next round. Everyone will recover and react differently to their treatments. It looks like the doctors have a good eye on you. I've been told some counts can take a year or more to come back to normal depending on the dosage and amount of drugs given.

chicagomomof3 04/15/2015

ANC was up to .46 today!! I just need to be patient. It's so hard! I appreciate your input and support. Thanks all!

Noodle65 04/15/2015

Such great news! You have been a very long stressful process. Don't be too hard on yourself for feeling stress and concern. Most of us completely empathise with you. We are here to encourage you and share our experience, never to minimize what you are going through. You ate doing awesome and you have these demon beat!!!

Praying for you
Julie

worriedmom2014 04/16/2015

Great news! Just give it time and in the meantime be safe.

Hugs and prayers

Karen

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