I’m a 79 yr old female with stage 4 non Hodgkin lymphoma, it is in the lymph nodes on the side of my face and 20% in my bone marrow.I started chemo on the 6th June having treatment every 3 weeks. When my blood was taken before my 2nd treatment my bloods were low and it was delayed for a week. I was due for my 3rd treatment tomorrow and again my bloods are low, again delayed till the following Monday. I have been fairly upbeat about everything but I’m now getting a bit stressed. What can or is there anything I can do to get my bloods up?
Hi MMS and a warm welcome to this corner of the Community although I am always sorry to see folks joining us. I am Mike and I help out around our various Lymphoma groups.
I was diagnosed way back in 1999 with a rare, incurable type of NHL Stage 4a so I appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well (you can see my story by hitting my community name)
Low blood counts are unfortunately a normal Side Effects of Treatments like chemotherapy and you can’t do *much* to help them along.
Your clinical team like to see your bone-marrow recover by itself…… they may if necessary use G-CSF (Growth factor) Injections like FILGRASTIM as these injections are designed to wake up your bone marrow and produce more cells.
I said you can’t do *much* to improve your blood counts but some food may help such as red meats, such as beef…… cooked organ meats, such as kidney and liver. Dark, leafy, green vegetables, such as spinach and kale. Dried fruits, such as prunes and raisins and beans….
During these times you are more open to infection so you be need to take great care you dont come in contact with an infection risk…….. having had Neutropenic Sepsis twice you do need to be very careful.
Always around to chat.
