I Was Sent Home

[KDR]

I've just begun my fifth year in chemo treatment, and for the first time, I was sent home for low ABS NEUT. Had to take a Neupogen shot, and I will be for the time being. I felt like I was sent home from school. Long drive, accessed port, ready and waiting. Garage paid. This is the full-time job I do, with no pay. I'm like a lobster in a cage, wondering what kind fisherman will open the gate and set me free; that is, where is the end? I always felt so badly when a friend was sent home. I'm in that pot today. Piss pot.

Anyone else on Gemzar have this happen?

Thanks,

Karen

[CarolineC]

Geez Karen,

What a day! I know exactly how you feel about it being a job, just ongoing. Keep hopeful, though. I always felt like the Neupogen shots were actually helping my immune system. I think I had over 60 of them because my counts were always low, even hospitalized for three days. Over the course of time I felt better than I had in years, maybe from the cancer being attacked, the Neupogen, or hydration, or a combination.

Thinking of you-better days are ahead and soon.

Love,

Caroline

[yanyan]

Hi Karen sorry to hear this happened to you !! I was given gemzar on day 1 and day 8 reduced dose. I get the neupagen shots in the 2nd week for 3 days which got me the white blood counts needed for treatment. I'm still doing the neupagen shots now that I'm on navelbine

[Lnmum]

Karen,
Sorry to hear you had a rough day. I hope your counts go up and you truly kick cancer to the curb.
Loren

[Adriana Mangus]

Sorry to hear about your blood count, Karen.

You will be back in action in no time, my Lady. Neupogen shots are an excellent way to get your white count back up. Look at Ann, she's now cancer free.

Praying for a speedy white cell count recovery!

Love you,

Adriana

[Pamelamary]

Oh Karen - sorry to hear this, but look on it as a day or so off. We work hard as metsters - no pay, but I guess, a decent pay off? Hope the Neupogen shots do the trick and that Gemzar works well for you.
Warm wishes.... Pam

[KDR]

Thanks, all. Really. I am going up to the mountains today to pick up Yasmin from camp. Will check in as signals allow. Karen

[StephN]

Have a lovely day in the mountains. Good for the soul - a get-away!

Many of us here took Neupogen shots to keep our white count up in order to stay on treatment. I gave them to myself - alternating thighs - as this drug was part of a trial I was on. Gave them usually 4 nights per week starting right after my treatment and taking three nights off before my next treatment.

I did have some lower back/hip bone aches as that is where the drug was working. The aches did not last as my body became accustomed to it.

Keep up all your good work on various fronts that you are exploring and working on.

[CoolBreeze]

I've been on 7 different chemos, and the only one where this happened was Gemzar. It really did a number on my blood. I've been off it for a year and only yesterday did my grans hit 2.3. They've been 1.5 for this entire year off any chemo and only on Perjeta/Herceptin.

I ended up refusing neopogen/neulasta/leukine type drugs. I had a bad reaction to them so when my whites were down, they stayed down. Good luck, I hope you get to back to normal soon.

I also relate to your feeling of being trapped. You should have heard the gasps from the newbies at chemo yesterday when they discovered I'd been going in five years. They had never contemplated that. But it is better than the alternative!

[mamacze]

Hi Angel, this is a long long haul for you. I am so glad you are heading to the mountains. Bonding time in the car with Yasmin can be restorative. Holding you up and up.
XO

[KDR]

Checking in, thanks all!
Since doing my supplements, LFTs have dropped and that's a good thing. I'm adding the immune section now. There are so many to take; it's better to add by sections.

I'm over being sent home now, based on the informative and encouraging words here from those who have been through it on the tougher drugs. It was such a let down; my attitude was "I'm here to do business," but there was no business to be done.

I still have no doubt I will reach NED again, a place I cherished for most of my diagnosis these last four years, save when I needed to change. So I'm looking at it this way: let Gemzar work synergistically with my supplementation, kill it off, and then I can go on maintenance. That is the plan. And waiting on the new offerings, of course, i.e., CD47.

Maybe then I won't be a lobster...

Love
Karen

PS Mountains are cool, will be 52 degrees tonight, 82 at noon...LOVE IT

[Redwolf8812]

Sorry, Karen. It happened to me, too, when I was on a trial and taking taxol plus carboplatin. I was so freaked out I thought it meant I'd be kicked off the trial. I detest that my mind always goes to the worst scenario. I wish I could see these sort of "surprises" as God's will and perhaps a little gift as well.

:-) Penny

[tricia keegan]

I'm sorry Karen and can imagine what a let down this was, I was given a Neulasta shot the day after chemo which luckily kept my counts up, hoping for NED sooner rather than later for you!

[Mtngrl]

Karen,

I haven't been through the "being sent home" experience, but I've felt all the other feelings. It's a job. And it's like being a lobster in a cage. Boo, hiss.