Great news. Are Jo's other counts in the normal range? Neupegan shot are used to bring anc up. Is she still neutrapedic?

Her WBC was the same and her hemoglobin was down a bit. They give her the Neupogen shot prior to each round of chemo to help her WBC come up faster so she is less prone to infection right after chemo.

She did have one Neupogen shot during her wait for her counts to come back up but the doctor said they don't like to give it too often because it also makes any leukemia cells produce faster also.

Hi Debbie,

How did Jo's consolidation go? I pay she is doing well. What does of ariC did they lower her to?

Julie

Sorry for the typos.

I am praying she is doing well.

What dose of ariC did they lower her to?

Obviously I should not type on my phone :-)

They ended up not lowering her dose which has us really nervous. She had her lab work last Tuesday and her platelets were 60. The next day when she went to her appt. at MDA, they had dropped to 43. They went ahead with the chemo because the doc said she really needed to get started back with the chemo. They giver a chemo treatment at MDA and then she has a pump with more chemo that she brings home with her and it starts 3 1/2 hours after the chemo given at MDA. This is how it was her first round also.

However, this round, she got a shot of Neupogen after each dose of chemo all three days and then 24 hours after her pump chemo ended on the last day, she got a shot of Neulasta. Which they did not do last time.

She, of course feels really crummy about now but we hope that all this will help her rebound faster this time. I think he didn't want to lower the dose since it had been 85 days since her last dose when she finally got chemo again. However, with her platelets down to 43 when they administered it, it just makes us really nervous.

Now that we have experience at how the numbers can go after a round of chemo, maybe we will be a little less anxious when they take a little bit to come back up.

They are also going to be doing BMB's every month. Which, of course, she was not thrilled about.

I dont blame her.

Praying the chemo does it job, and her recovery is easy and speedy this time around. I'm suprised she goes home and does chemo. All of mine were in the hospital.

Dave J

Her doctor told her that the next round of chemo after this one will be as an inpatient because that type of chemo can possibly have complications with the heart and she would have to be monitored. Every third round of her chemo until she completes it will have to be as an inpatient. I'm not sure what types she gets. She is in a clinical trial and gets one type specific to the trial. I'm not sure if that is the inpatient one, the pump one or what.

Debbie,

How many days will Jo spend in the hospital for her next consolidation. I know that the origianl treatment plan was for 8 months. Has her Docs discussed if this time period will be extended due to her slow count recovery?

They didn't say but she does not do her consolidation round usually as an inpatient. Just her induction was as an inpatient. She does a dose of chemo as an outpatient then takes a pump home with her for the second dose of chemo for the day. The next day she goes again and brings her pump back to be reloaded again for that day. She does this 3 days. He did say the next one would be as an inpatient but due to possible heart complications that can arise from the third type of chemo she will get that time.

She did have lab yesterday for the first time since her chemo ended on the 16th. Her platelets were 3 and her WBC .2, blood 9.2. She got transfusion and will go again tomorrow for another one. She does have a cold and they started her on antibiotics, no fever at this time and she says since transfusion, she feels a little better.

Well, Jo will go for lab work again today. Last lab draw, she was at .2 for WBC and 1 for platelets. She has also developed painful mouth sores with this round of chemo. She is using the mouth wash the hospital gave her and trying the soda/salt and water. It doesn't seem to be helping so far. It's not as bad as some I have read about on here who have needed an IV to eat but she says it is very painful.

I'm hoping and praying her numbers have come up today!

Debbie,

Mouth sores usually won't start to resolve until wbc and anc start going up. The tissue in Jo's mouth are paper thin and super fragile right now. Remind her to eat super soft food as to not same them. To this day, I still avoid toast. I highly recommend rinsing with the saline solution at least once an hour. The healing power really works. I'm praying for Jo's number to come up but based on last cycle at least you can set realistic expectations.

Julie

How is Jo doing Debbie? Are her numbers up?

Julie

Seems to be a little faster this time. She had lab today and platelets were up to 34 from 6 on Thursday but she also had platelets given last Thursday so they said this next draw will tell if she is producing again or not. WBC is up to 1.1 so she is able to get out a little and she is happy about that.

To me, I think she goes out or has people over too much but she will not listen until she gets an infection. She is so hard headed. She thinks since she hasn't had one, she is doing everything right and won't get one. I hope her luck holds up.

Debbie,

How are Jo's counts-holding I hope!

Julie