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v-ness · 03-24-2010, 11:49 AM

hi weety- i finished chemo back on 1/21/2010 and at that time my WBC was 4.8. last monday i got a CBC done and was startled to find out my WBC was down to 2.8 and i haven't had chemo in 2 months! in fact, it never dropped that low during my entire 4 months of chemo. i am over half-way through radiation right now but my radiation oncologist said it wasn't caused by radiation. if i am not in chemo.... and it's not caused by radiation, then why do i have it? i see several people got low WBC counts post-chemo. i guess i will start taking echinacea again (my rad onco said no supplements during radiation) because i don't feel like getting sick at this juncture. my oncologist didn't seem terribly concerned, but i like knowing why things happen and have no answers right now. the good news is that at my own insistence i got another CBC run this past monday and i have risen to 3.6 so at least that's a relief. they asked if i was fighting anything off but i never felt at all sick. i'm going to get another test on april 5 so i will re-post if i continue to hover low. i hope yours rises soon too. valerie

03-24-2010, 11:49 AM	#11
v-ness Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: western ma Posts: 280	Re: Low white blood cell count? hi weety- i finished chemo back on 1/21/2010 and at that time my WBC was 4.8. last monday i got a CBC done and was startled to find out my WBC was down to 2.8 and i haven't had chemo in 2 months! in fact, it never dropped that low during my entire 4 months of chemo. i am over half-way through radiation right now but my radiation oncologist said it wasn't caused by radiation. if i am not in chemo.... and it's not caused by radiation, then why do i have it? i see several people got low WBC counts post-chemo. i guess i will start taking echinacea again (my rad onco said no supplements during radiation) because i don't feel like getting sick at this juncture. my oncologist didn't seem terribly concerned, but i like knowing why things happen and have no answers right now. the good news is that at my own insistence i got another CBC run this past monday and i have risen to 3.6 so at least that's a relief. they asked if i was fighting anything off but i never felt at all sick. i'm going to get another test on april 5 so i will re-post if i continue to hover low. i hope yours rises soon too. valerie __________________ 8/09 - IDC 1.8 cm triple positive, lumpectomy left breast 10/09 began chemo (taxotere & carboplatin) and weekly herceptin. 1/21/10 finished chemo, continued on herceptin every 3 weeks until 10/2010. 2/10 began 7 wks of radiation 6/10 mom dies of primary peritoneal ovarian cancer 8/10 got my last remaining ovary out 10/10 mammogram all clear 3/11 MRI shows 5 'spots' in right breast, largest 1 cm unidentifiable on US needle biopsy proved the largest to be old inflamed cyst -phew! 7/10 switched to Arimidex 8/9 switched to Femara - allergic to arimidex Femara made me lose hair quickly so switched to Aromasin Aromasin made my hair fall out too and the bone pain was too much. back on Tamoxifen 1/2013. blood clot from trains and planes 5/2014 so on coumadin per onco for as long as i am on tamoxifen tamoxifen was supposed to be up with my 5 yrs in may but my boyfriend was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer so i am staying on tamoxifen indefinitely because i want some ammo against BC, given the stress. lost my husband in only 10 wks in 2007 to stage 4 esophageal cancer. cancer's screwing with another man i love 2/2016 - 6yrs in remission, off tamoxifen and off coumadin - yay!