Julie, Julie, Julie do you trust me. With my best Bobby darrin impersonation. WBC can be so volatile. After my 3 plus week European vacating my counts plummeted (at least in my mind)as follows:

WBC - 3.6 down .5
HCT- 36.8 down 1
Platelets - 110 down 24
ANC 1.8 - down 1.7

My med team was completely unconcerned. As long as they are in the normal range no worries. Believe me, I so understand the concern. I get labs every month so the volatility is crazy. That is why I started the praising God for platelets post to show that. I'm praying for peace for you.

Blessings
Julie

Thanks Julie!

I just went and had my labs done. My doctor is out of town for awhile so I was trying to figure out if that is a normal drop. Our girls just had the flu so maybe I'm just fighting something. Your counts were similar after your Europe trip. I need to stop worrying. Blessings.

Julie

Are you post transplant or chemo only? Post transplant labs for us have varied quite a bit! One month WBC is 6, next month 4.5, the next month 7, no rhyme or reason
Plates and reds stay more stable but his plates even vary from 240-150
I've felt best if I remembered If docs aren't worried, you shouldn't

Thanks :)

I'm chemo only. My oncologist went to Europe so I wasn't sure if my counts were.normal. I need to improve my immune system:). It sounds like counts fluctuate. Praying for everyone fighting AML.

Julie -- any number of things can affect the numbers, including sampling error -- errors in the machines -- they are not perfect. You could put the same blood in twice and get different numbers. Or take the blood twice on a given day separated by a few hours and they might be different -- the process is not perfect. So, as long as your med people are not alarmed about it, I would not be either. It takes a fairly long time to recover -- i was a couple years before mine started to trend back to normal, and then it was gradually over a couple of the more recent years -- I am a 5.5 year survivor and you will be as well before you know it. Please come back and let us know how things are going -- we are praying for you -- daveB

Thanks Dave, That makes me feel better. I think once everything stabilizes and I get closer to the two year mark hopefully the worry will go away. Thank you to everyone on this site for all your knowledge and support.

Blessings
Julie

Julie,

One thing to always remember about your unique situation is that your AML was never in your bone marrow, praise God. Your counts went down as a result the induction and consolation chemo you recieved. As we've discussed I know two others like yourself who presented AML in a tumor rather than in the marrow and their outcomes have been fabulous. Just like yours is going to be. Please remember that and that you are treated at MDA, the best.

As far as improving your immune system, unless you are sick more than normal which I believe is not the case you are fine. Lower WBC and ANC may be your new normal. I am nearing two years post all treatment and mine are always low normal and I have been incredibly healthy. People all around me are sick including my family and I stay healthy, by the grace of God. I do drink a huge green smoothie everyday with a full container of baby kale, blueberries, flax and mango.

Please don't worry. You are in the normal range. When my ANC was 1.8 3 months ago my med team actually laughed at me when I voiced concern.

Blessings
Julie