UND @ Week 3 !! ANC bottoming out. Questions??

[rinica]

Hello to all!  Well the GREAT news is my husband has been UND since week 3 and ALT has dropped to 27!!!! To refresh,  he is GT 1a, grade 1, stage 1 w/ elevated ALT (previously).  He is in the Roche study w/ R0####### and interferon and ribavirin.  
Got call from nurse and she said that ANC is 700 and WBC 2.0,  HGB is hanging tight at 13.4 (These are week 4 bloods).  He is now cut down to 0.5ml of interferon and study drug cut in half.  Ribavirin is the same.  Now he will not be seen for two weeks.  My concern is how do we know that he will not drop dangerously with his ANC during these two weeks?? He will have had two more injections before they draw blood again.  I know the symptoms of the HGB dropping,  but is there any way to tell if the ANC is dropping unless you end up with an infection??
So far he feels pretty good,  just minor headache the day after shot and some heaviness in his legs.  Thank God.
Thanks all for your help.  

[dorsey15]

GREAT NEWS! to clear so early w/geno type 1!
I don't know much about being in study group--I have read that you don't get rescue drugs.. ANC 700 WBC 2.0 is a little low ...and normally the doc would be thinking about a rescue drug Neupogen...shot...to bring #'s back up.. he's still in a safe zone...but keep checking... I had dropped to 700 but wbc just to 1.1 and my doc put me on weekly neupogen shots 300mg at wk 5 and I will be doing my 11 th shot of pegasys tonight... along w/ my wkly neupogen shot...
I don't normally notice any ill feelings from low wbc but definately do when my RBC drops below 11 !! I dropped a couple of times below 10 and had to do 2 procrit shots so far --only 20,000 mg.. and that brought my RBC back up to 11...
Glad he hasn't experienced to many SIDES..w/ treatment because I haven't had that experience....it's been pretty bad for me...
I too am Geno type 1..and cleared @ 4th week !! yeah!! not in a study group...but have had some really bad sides...have been on phenagram/zolfram for nausea, procrit, neupogen, ambiem, reduced my ribaviran from 1000mg to 800 mg because of sides...
So, blessings to you and your husband...
Dorsey

[rinica]

Thanks for your reply!  Sorry to hear about all your sx.  Sometimes sx lessen the longer you are taking a drug (fingers crossed)!  You are right about not giving rescue drugs w/ study.  I think the next step is to stop his tx.  I am so afraid of this happening.  We do not have insurance and this tx has been a blessing for us,  because it is free.  I hope things get better for you and blessings to you and yours!!   RINICA

[Myown]

Glad to hear your husband is UND!
MO

[Trish77]

Hi Rinica,

There is some very good information on this site about all the blood cells and you will find info on WBC as well.  Very comprehensive.

http://www.chemocare.com/managing/low_blood_counts.asp#LowWhite

Myself and a handful of others on this site are also on this R1626 trial which also goes by that big long # you're referring to.  :)

Today begins week 5 for me.   They're behind on getting me my results so I've only just gotten Week 2 this week and I've dropped from a baseline of 1,650,000 IU/ml to 5,050 IU/ml.  For all I know.. I could be UND right now and I can hardly wait for the rest of the results.

The sides are mild for me as well.  One week of solid fatigue during Week 3 and then this week it's been normal energy again but I'm not going as hard as before either.

I was told yesterday that a number of people on this trial are getting dosage reductions at my trial center but not for me just yet.  

Very happy to hear your husband is UND!!!  Someone suggested to me that I might ask my family doctor if he will do blood tests in between the trial ones if I don't want to wait.  For me that's not an issue yet but wonder if that's an option for you, if that will give you peace of mind.  

Otherwise, I hope that link helps.  Preventative measures regarding infection are a good thing and the dosage reductions will probably help too.  

Take good care and I hope things continue to go well for your husband.

Regards,

Trish