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Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
Getting along fine until last chemotherapy.
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
Getting along fine until last chemotherapy.
by seven7, Sep 16, 2002 12:00AM
I have had 5 chemo treatments and have gotten along extremely well until after the 5th one. I doubt that there is a connection, but I have an infection in my eye, and also a bladder infection now , after the 5th chemo. Could it be caused by a lowered red blood cell count? It was only 9.9 three weeks ago, and is probably lower now. My oncologist said if it lowered any more, he would put me on shots of Prevacid ,I believe it is called. (My white blood count has kept in the middle of the normal zone ) Do you think the lower red count could cause the eye infection, as well as the bladder infection? Thanks for your answer. ( P.S. I was changed to Taxotere for the 5th treatment, and for the next 3 to come. Could this have a bearing on my question?)
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-rf, Sep 16, 2002 12:00AM
Dear Seven7: Infections are usually related to low white blood cell counts. These are the cells that fight infection. Red blood cells are what carry oxygen to the cells. Symptoms of low red blood cells are anemia manifested by fatigue. The drug he was proposing for your low red blood cell count is Procrit. There are similar drugs for low white blood cell count. Of course, you can get an infection without a low white cell count, but it is more likely if the white count is low. The taxotere may have contributed to a lower white count than your other regimen. The only way to know is to do a blood test. The infections should certainly be treated.
i have just finished taxotere 2 weeks ago, before that i was on FEC i was fine on the FEC but once i changed to taxotere every thing changed, i was really quite bad for at least a week but it never started untill late the second day, my main problem was depression it was awful plus i did not know where i was it was like being dazed and i did not feel in control of my body
i'm glad it is all over for taxotere, but this how it affected me hope it does not have this affect on you, please try and hang in there i had 4 fec and 4 taxotere 3 weeks apart and getting to the last 2 i said i could not stand to have any more but i did it and now it is over, just radiotherapy to go, i know what you are going through it's hard but we have to try and persavere, if you would like to e-mail me at any time my e-mail is ***@****
take care
liz