1. < Colorectal Cancer

Anyone had chemo delayed because of low platelet level?

Posted by pcallier @pcallier, Nov 16, 2022

My session was delayed for an additional week because of low platelets 86. Has anyone had this issue ? Thanks

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Nov 16, 2022

@pcallier, sometimes chemo will be postponed due to low blood counts. With low platelets, you may not feel any symptoms, but you'll want to be careful to avoid injury. You are more prone to bruising and bleeding. Be gentle with teeth brushing even. If you get a cut, be cautious about infection. If your platelets are low, your white blood cells that fight infection may be lower than normal too.

Here's more info: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-treatment/art-20046192

I'm tagging fellow members like @tyson1221 who had colorectal cancer and is currently experiencing low platelets. @stparker54 and @susan2018 have experience with low platelets due to chemo for other cancer types.

Pcallier, are you concerned about this delay?

REPLY
2 replies
pcallier | @pcallier | Nov 17, 2022
In reply to @colleenyoung "@pcallier, sometimes chemo will be postponed due to low blood counts. With low platelets, you may..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@pcallier, sometimes chemo will be postponed due to low blood counts. With low platelets, you may not feel any symptoms, but you'll want to be careful to avoid injury. You are more prone to bruising and bleeding. Be gentle with teeth brushing even. If you get a cut, be cautious about infection. If your platelets are low, your white blood cells that fight infection may be lower than normal too.

Here's more info: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-treatment/art-20046192

I'm tagging fellow members like @tyson1221 who had colorectal cancer and is currently experiencing low platelets. @stparker54 and @susan2018 have experience with low platelets due to chemo for other cancer types.

Pcallier, are you concerned about this delay?

Jump to this post

TY for the information.

REPLY
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Nov 17, 2022
In reply to @colleenyoung "@pcallier, sometimes chemo will be postponed due to low blood counts. With low platelets, you may..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@pcallier, sometimes chemo will be postponed due to low blood counts. With low platelets, you may not feel any symptoms, but you'll want to be careful to avoid injury. You are more prone to bruising and bleeding. Be gentle with teeth brushing even. If you get a cut, be cautious about infection. If your platelets are low, your white blood cells that fight infection may be lower than normal too.

Here's more info: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-treatment/art-20046192

I'm tagging fellow members like @tyson1221 who had colorectal cancer and is currently experiencing low platelets. @stparker54 and @susan2018 have experience with low platelets due to chemo for other cancer types.

Pcallier, are you concerned about this delay?

Jump to this post

@pcallier: My chemo was for my second lung cancer. I had cisplatin and navelbine. Cisplatin is a very tough chemo and caused me so many digestive problems. But it also cause my blood platelets to drop so much that by the end of my 4 months of chemo they had reduced the chemical solution to 1/4 in strength. I also lost one day of chemo.

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to continue or that my treatment would be delayed so much that my cancer would grow out of control. But that didn't happen. Many, many people run into this. Chemo Therapy really can change our chemistry a lot. It took a long time for my blood to get back to normal but it did.

Have you talked to your doctors if they think that there will be a prolonged delay?

REPLY
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