← Return to Long-term side effects of pelvic radiation - 6 months after treatment

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Good morning! I had my appointment with the social worker, and we both felt like something else is going on in the background that is causing me to feel off. I had blood work done, and my white blood cell count and neutrophil absolute counts are really low beyond the bottom of the normal range. I am thinking this was probably caused by the pelvic radiation/bone marrow issue, but we will see where we go from there. I also started taking some iron this week, and am feeling slowly a bit better.

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Replies to "Good morning! I had my appointment with the social worker, and we both felt like something..."

@dlgbb It's been a while now. Did your issue really get resolved? If so, please share how.

@dlgbb, hello there. Although my gynecological cancer was different than yours, because I have sustained a great deal of external and internal beam radiation, in addition to being on immunospressive therapy for rheumatoid arthritis for years, I live with chronic lymphocytopenia, and I had poor nutritional absorption from years of taking NSAIDs. I had StageIIB recurrent vaginal cancer, that resulted in total pelvic exenteration. My exhaustion and GI issues had been great for 3 years. I finally was tested nutritionally (lots of tubes of blood) and was deficient in zinc, iron, B-12 and most other B vitamins. If you've been experiencing diarrhea off and on, you can be tested by a hematology oncologist at your cancer center and see what you need. I have had B-12 injections once a month in addition to B-complex and zinc supplements (and a occasion iron infusion) for a couple of years now. I definitely feel better for it. I'm glad they discovered that you need additional iron. Checking for these other nutritional deficiencies is not completely unusual, but sometimes you do have to be a bit assertive to get some docs order the testing. Insurance does cover it. Just some thoughts!