Immune system after Folfirinox: What precautions are necessary?

Posted by tomswife @tomswife, Jan 6, 2023

My husband was told he needed to stay away from family and gatherings for 6 mo after tx . What is Mayo’s protocol ?

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Can't answer for Mayo, but my sister's response to her TENTH cycle of folfirinox was to crash her WBC count to 400, withe extremely low neutrophils, after which they characterized her condition as neutropenia.

She was hospitalized and all staff and visitors required masks - and, no fresh flowers or fruit in the room.

She had completed eight folfirinox sessions prior to that with no restrictions.

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low neutrophils is a common side effect. I generally stay away from people but not my immediate family. My last one was 1.12. My oncologist lowered the threshold to 1.0 or greater. Because my body was not making enough neutrophils. My lowest was .48 The protocol is suppose to be three weeks of chemo and then a week off. I do chemo every other week. And my ANC is still very low.

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cathyras,

My sisters protocol, as specified by Mayo, is one day infusion with a pump for the f5 for 46 hours. Then 12 days off - a net two week cycle.

Her crash, although there are other factors at work, probably relates to them not being able to use the port last time, but using bolus, instead.

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Hi - I’m on Folfirinox regime. I am around my immediate family and stay away from others. We eat take out to limit exposure. The oncology team monitors blood work and toxicity. If your husband’s wbc goes low, the oncologist can boost wbc with a shot in between chemotherapy sessions.
I have noticed that I catch germs others do not - I chalked that up to chemo and cancer both.
I’m not to the post stage yet, but I will ask now that you have mentioned this.

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I had the same chemo treatment as you and went to get a shot three days after chemo ended to bring up my White blood cell count up. Good luck on your treatments.

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The med they used to increase my sister's WBC was called filgrastim (Neupogen).

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I had Grastofil injections daily for 7 days between treatments to bring my WBC up. They were effective. Dr should be able to prescribe something if needed.

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@lvtexas

Hi - I’m on Folfirinox regime. I am around my immediate family and stay away from others. We eat take out to limit exposure. The oncology team monitors blood work and toxicity. If your husband’s wbc goes low, the oncologist can boost wbc with a shot in between chemotherapy sessions.
I have noticed that I catch germs others do not - I chalked that up to chemo and cancer both.
I’m not to the post stage yet, but I will ask now that you have mentioned this.

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I get zarzio shots in between chemo if wbc warrants it. When needed, we did two days in a tie before chemo. Looks like there are other options too.

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@lvtexas

Hi - I’m on Folfirinox regime. I am around my immediate family and stay away from others. We eat take out to limit exposure. The oncology team monitors blood work and toxicity. If your husband’s wbc goes low, the oncologist can boost wbc with a shot in between chemotherapy sessions.
I have noticed that I catch germs others do not - I chalked that up to chemo and cancer both.
I’m not to the post stage yet, but I will ask now that you have mentioned this.

Jump to this post

How are you feeling on this,do you get sick?

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@lvtexas

Hi - I’m on Folfirinox regime. I am around my immediate family and stay away from others. We eat take out to limit exposure. The oncology team monitors blood work and toxicity. If your husband’s wbc goes low, the oncologist can boost wbc with a shot in between chemotherapy sessions.
I have noticed that I catch germs others do not - I chalked that up to chemo and cancer both.
I’m not to the post stage yet, but I will ask now that you have mentioned this.

Jump to this post

what do you mean by "post" stage.

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