Hi, I am about halfway through treatment for triple negative breast cancer. I started with 4 x 2 weekly cycles of EC which all went smoothly (apart from awful side effects). I have now moved onto 12 weekly cycles of paclitaxel with 4 cycles of carboplatin. I have had one week of carboplatin and paclitaxel, the following week I had paclitaxel on its own. Last week my cycle of paclitaxel was deferred due to low neutrophils. This week my treatment was deferred again due to low neutrophils, which, in the nurse’s words, had dropped dramatically since last week. I asked her what happens in this situation and she said that I just need to come for a blood test next week and if the neutrophils are low again then the treatment would deferred by one week. I said that it was deferred last week and now this week, so if it happens again then that will be 3 weeks in a row which seems worrying to me. She was unaware that I had already had a week deferred, so she looked at my notes and said she would email my oncologist to ask his advice. I asked if I could have the Filgastrim injections as when I had them previously I didn’t have any issues with low neutrophils. She said that wasn’t her choice to make and that she would phone me later when she had had a reply to her email. She phoned later to let me know she hadn’t had a reply. I phoned back the next day to see if there was any update and explained the situation. The receptionist said it wasn’t a problem and that if my blood test wasn’t good next week then my treatment would be deferred by a week. No one seems to listen to the fact that I have already had 2 weeks in a row deferred. I had to explain this point again, along with my concerns, so she found a nurse to talk to me, who said that I was on the list to be discussed in the weekly meeting (which will be today) and to phone back late this afternoon for advice. I have no idea about chemo and how and when it needs to be administered, but is it ok to miss 3 weekly sessions in a row? I am so worried it will allow my tumour to grow. With the EC it went from 27mm to 12mm in an 8 week period.
