some speculation

[juanita]

I was reading in the news forum and read the article about anemia giving you a greater chance of recurrence. I was anemic before chemo, stayed anemic during and after it as well. I am still anemic now almost 3 years after I finished all treatments. Can't find a reason for it, other than genetics. My dad and his family are too. So what do you thinnk this does to my odds? Anybody got a guess?

[penelope]

I wonder the same thing. I have always been anemic too.

[atdec05]

I became anemic during both my treatments. I had a recurrence towards the end of my first treatment (AC+Herceptin), then did Taxol/Herceptin. During both treatments my RBC was low enough that I got Procrit shots.

- Anna

[Paris]

My red counts have always been mildly anemic so yes, I wonder about the recurrence too. Plus I had four shots of aranesp that I really shouldn't have gotten now that the latest studies have been released. I guess you never know. Did any of you get aranesp or procrit?

[Unregistered]

I might have gotten aranesp shots as well as procrit shots. What studies are you referring to? It's scary to read about the Heparin shots causing death after 2 years of taking Heparin!

- Anna

[dhealey]

I wa anemic during chemo and 4 aranesp injections. I too, saw an article reguarding recurrence if you were anemic during treatment. Kind of scary. My anemia went away after I finished treatment. My white count on the other hand stays boarderline low.

[juanita]

The articles are in the news forum at the bottom of the main forums page.

[harrie]

Yes, I read that article also and during TCH I had to have procrit a few times due to my low RBC. I was wondering if being anemic is very common to those undergoing chemo.
harriecanarie

[Sheila]

So far after Taxol for 10 months, my RBC has never gotten low enough to require anything. I guess that is 1 good thing I inherited, good red blood cells!