Good morning, @mommacandy. “Ain’t this just fun…”. I remember my ‘chemo buddy’ saying that as we walked the hospital halls together about 5 years ago. He and I were on the same chemo treatment schedule of being an inpatient every 28 days for 7 days of chemo, every 12 hours. He…a big burly biker dude and I was a little old lady. Nothing in common but our bags of juice. ☺️ Five years later, we are both cancer free and still text on a regular basis. Before cancer, he had long, dark hair in a pony tail or braid. He was lamenting having lost his hair too! Bald as a cue ball, he felt he was stripped of his image like Samson in the bible stories. Nope, he still commanded respect. Cancer wasn’t going to take this guy down…maybe his hair, but not Jumper! I saw a photo of him the other day…he’s back to his flowing locks riding his Hog. I’d pre-emptively had a buzz cut and felt pretty bad-a**. 😉 Anyway, your hair will grow back! In the meantime, own the look! It’s going to be the easiest time you’ve ever had with primping in the morning! I actually was a little annoyed when I had to start getting cuts and curls! Just watch out for sunburn…wear a sun hat!

Having low white blood counts, starting about a week or so after a chemo session is expected. It can last a couple weeks until blood numbers start to rise again. During that time the body is quite vulnerable to infections because the neutorphil count is very low. Generally, counts will start to rise again and be acceptable by the time the next round of chemo starts. But sometimes it takes the body a little longer to replenish. Your doctor will most likely order followup blood work in a week or so to check numbers and then you can resume the chemo.

From my experience, to avoid prolonged neutropenia and the potential for neutorpenic fevers or infection I was given an injection of Neulasta. Neulasta or another product called Neupogen can increase the production and release of neutrophils from the bone marrow. If this conditons persists for you, your doctor may suggested one of these options to bump up the production of your white blood cells. Not every patient is a candidate for this treatment so that’s something your doctor would decide based on your condition.
Here’s a little information on those products: https://www.verywellhealth.com/neulasta-vs-neupogen-for-chemotherapy-treatment-430223

Not much you can do to increase cells on your own right now. So just get rest, rest and more rest. Don’t push yourself. Eat healthy foods and try to eat enough protein and drink plenty of water.

Has your doctor mentioned Neupogen or Neulasta?

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