Dr. Visit
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Pepehorse: Infections while on chemo is very common. Not ‘from’ the chemo cocktail itself but from the decreased blood cells because the chemo not only kills the cancer but also kills good things too! Anyone with either a stent or an external drain tube is more prone to infections because of the foreign body inside the body. My husband Tom (and many others) have had numerous infections, and once they are on the right antibotics the infections tend to clear up quickly.
One of Tom’s doctors told me that he’s in less danger of dying from the cancer than he is of dying from an infection. So I am continually on tube of knowing what to watch for (signs of an infection) and if I thing anything is out of the ordinary I am on the phone to his doc! (And so far each time I ‘think’ he is coming down with some type of infection I’ve been right). In Tom’s case he never starts with a fever. It can be something as sleeping a lot more than normal, his color or skin tone, complaining of being tired, a change in the color of the bile coming out into his external drain bag, a foul smell of the bile….
Don’t be afraid to ask the doctors any questions, do research and watch for simple changes in demeanor, etc. All those weird little symptoms can point to an infection – and you can insist on blood work to check the white cell count. Normal is under 10,000 and anything over that means an infection!
Go with God and KEEP KICKIN’ THAT cancer.
Margaret
Pepehorse…..I agree with Lainy and Bryron in that chemotherapy works by killing fast-growing cancer cells. Unfortunately it does not always differentiate between fast-growing healthy cells and the fast-growing cancer cells. This can result in a low white blood cell count (myelosuppressive.) Complications associated with low white blood cell count often times cause cessation of chemotherapy treatment. Patients with neutropenia can be treated with drugs such as Neupogen (brand name Neulasta) in order to increase the white blood cell count. You may enter Neulasta or white blood cells into our google search function which will lead you to numerous postings on this subject.
The fact that your Dad is regaining some weight and has a healthy appetite should prove that he is recovering well from this not so uncommon side effect of his prior treatment. May he continue to do well.
Good luck and best wishes,
MarionPepehorse,
One characteristic of chemo is that it kills off a lot of blood cells that fight bacteria/viruses. When your body loses part of its ability to fight bacteria, infections can pop up anywhere. That’s why they caution chemo patients to not do things to come into contact with things/people that could communicate germs and disease. They even caution about shaving….don’t get cuts. As Lainy has stated, perhaps there are some alternatives that don’t affect the immune system quite as severely.
Dear Pepehorse, well that is some good news and information! IF the infection is from the chemo perhaps the 2 doctors will come up with a chemo cocktail that your Dad will tolerate better. We can never guess if the infection will occur again or not. Infections do not always come from just the stents. They just come and seem to be another side effect of CC. Don’t worry about his being off chemo for a few weeks and chemo and radiation both continue to work for a while after being discontinued. Glad to hear he is eating better. Enjoy the reprieve!!!
Last Thursday my dad had a follow up appointment w the oncologist followed by an app w/ the infectious disease doctor. The ocologist is hesitating on restarting the chem, she feels that the serious infection he had could of been from the Chemotherapy. The infectious disease doctor feels the same. They have ordered new Ct Scans of the addomen They will restart chemo mid October.
My dad had hs drains removed prior to his first round of chemo. He has no stents in place. It’s confusing alot of what I read is that these infections generally come from the stents. It’s been four days now that he has not had any pain in his abdomen.
and he also gained a pound..
The good thing is that he has a good appetite and eat’s well.CC friends could this be a sort of infections caused by the Chemo? if so then once he starts again wil he problably get it?
Hopeful Daughter
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