My wife is receiving Chemo tablets for her grade 4 brain tumour, unfortunately her white blood cell count is to low for her to begin her next lot of treatment this is the second time she has been delayed due to this. Is there anything she can do during the next week that will help increase her white blood cell count?
Hi Poole,
My name is Keith and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialist’s
Welcome to the online community.
I am sorry to hear that your wife’s treatment for her grade 4 brain tumour has been delayed for the second time since her treatment has started.
It natural to be concerned for treatment to be delayed during chemotherapy due to blood levels being lower than they should. This includes white blood count.
In most cases giving your wife a little more time for her blood levels to come back up to an acceptable level is all that is required, so she can then have her next course of treatment.
It’s a risk verses benefit scenario because if she isn’t given the extra time for her levels to recover it would increase the risk of more worrying side effects also increasing the risk of not having the ability to deal with any potential infections.
Your wife’s chemotherapy can reduce the number of white blood cells in her blood. These cells fight infection. If the number of her white blood cells is low, the risk of her getting an infection is increased. A low white blood cell count is sometimes called neutropenia.
The number of white blood cells usually goes back up naturally between the cycles of chemotherapy. But some people need a drug called G-CSF to help increase their white blood cell count. This can reduce their risk of infection and mean that chemotherapy can be given on time and at the planned dose. It may be worthwhile discussing this option further with her treatment team if this continues to be an issue moving forward.
There would be very little she can do to increase her white cell count independently. Eating a healthy diet can be helpful with enough protein, vitamin B12 and folate. It’s not wise to do this blindly without professional advice.
Talking to your team to see if they think referring your wife to a dietician may be helpful. The dietician could discuss her dietary requirements and advise of any changes that may help. Be cautious if thinking about doing anything independently and before taking any supplements or changes in your diet this should always be discussed with your treatment team as some vitamins etc can sometimes affect some cancer treatments. This link will explain this in a little more detail.
On this platform it can be difficult to have a two-way conversation and to fully understand what you are going through.
If you’d like further explanation or have any other questions, please feel free to recontact us. Or if you it may help to discuss things with someone outside the loop please feel free to give us a call or contact us via our web chat platform.
take care
Keith, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
Ref KM/KD
