Hi its Danielle and I'm freaking out. I guess my mom has a rash all over her entire body. They say its a side effect from the chemo and that her white blood cell count dropped really fast. She just finished her second week of chemo & radiation and they say she may have to be hospitalized. I am sooooo scared I'm literally shaking right now, Does anybody have information or experience with this....?

Hi Danielle, my white blood cell count also dropped very low during treatment as an effect of chemo treatment and had to be hospitalized for 3 weeks.I had only 4 rounds of cisplatin, once every week and I mangaged to receive it without interruption. The doctor had to check the blood prior to chemo treatment and if the blood count was below normal, it has to be suspended.This is quite common among patients in my hospital to have chemo postponed. I remember getting rash on my skin ( most parts of my body except the face) for a few days during my hospital stay for high fever, rehydration, etc. I don't know if it is of the similar kind to your mom's. It made me very itchy and got me crazy. I never had one before and I told my oncologist about this. He said I might be allergic to some kind of medicine. He was not sure what caused the rash because it wasn't common to have rash related to cancer treatment but he gave me an injection and the rash disappeared within a short time. I had such injection for three days and the rash did not return luckily. Danielle,don't panic, try to get professional advice.

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.

Hi Danielle,

My father had a rash about 4 weeks into his treatment (chemo and rad.). It started on his stomach and then progressed to his back, chest, and upper arms. It was red and did not itch. His doctors did not know what caused it (there was no change in his medications at the time). After taking Benedryl (sp.) for a couple days, the rash completely cleared and never came back.

At about 5-6 weeks into treatment, he was hospitalized for VERY low WBC count, severe mouth sores, and burns on his neck (bleeding and pussing). They had him straightened out in a week. I know how scared you are, but I'm sure everything will be fine and they will get her counts back up in no time!

My dad has been in the hospital for three weeks and 1 day for severe pneumonia. We thought we were going to lose him, but things have taken a dramatic turn for the better. He is actually coming home sometime this week!

I hope everything works out, I'm sure it will! Take care

Thank you for your reponse Karen. She just got out of the emergency room and they checked her blood cell counts and everything is fine. They say the rash is just a reaction to some kind of medication she is on. Thats a relief. They are giving her benadryl and think it will go away. The rash literally covers her entire body (except her face) so it gave us a scare but everything is ok. I just want this chemo and radiation to be over so she can get on the road to recovery....

Dani,

Glad she got it checked out. Also since her WBC is down yoou need to have a thermoneter around at all times. I even carry one in my purse. If her temp reaches 100.5 you need to call the doctor for instructions. This will help catches any infections early.

They can also give her Neupigen (sp)shots to build her WBC up, but they will wait a bit to see if her body will do it alone first.

Good luck and take care,
Dinah

I can heartily second Dinah's observation. My white count bottomed out, I got an infection, and ended up with 8 days in isolation being REALLY sick - and this was after all treatment had been completed. Do, Do, DO take her temperature often. I had a very high one and didn't feel it.

Thank you so much for all the input. I really appreciate all your help! My mom just got back from her oncologist today and it was good news as far news goes regarding her cancer. She was originally scheduled for 8 weeks of radiation and chemo and now from the looks of her mouth it will only be 6 weeks 30 treatments. She is estatic. The oncolgist says the radiation is really doing its job quickly. She has a lot of fillings in her mouth and the radiation is reflecting off of them. Since she has so many sores in her mouth already she can see that it is already doing its job and she says they may not need to do any more chemo sessions because the radiation seems to be doing fine on its own. I hope there are no more chemo sessions. I think thats what really bothers her the most. She meets with her chemo doctor tommorrow and if anything it will be just one more chemo session. After this week she has just 3 more to go. She will be half way done. Then its easier to cound the days from there.
You are all so helpful. I really appreicate everything. Everytime something happens I feel confident posting knowing that I can get honest answers from you all!
Danielle

I have a lot of fillings and crowns also and what helped me was I wedged cotton rolls between gums and teeth and teeth and tongue on both sides. They also have tongue protectors but I think the cotton rolls worked a little better. It helps if you moisten them first. I got mine from the nurses station in radiation oncology.