Hello All,

I am almost 5 years post treatment.
I am extremely grateful I have been given an all clear for 5 years now !

My blood work however, has consistently come back low lymphocytes .6 (normal range 1-2.9) and High Billirubin.
This has been the case since treatment in 2014.
Prior to treatment my lymphocytes were consistently 1.70 range.
Infections , colds, ...take a real long time to heal.
I had a number of nasal infections and impetigo actually in my first year after treatment.
My oncologist disputes this has occurred as a result of treatment or that it is a concern.
He referred me to a Gastroenterologist for Gilberts disease that came back negative.( i keep complaining of poor digestion / bloating)
My bilirubin is still HIGH and was that way just prior to my cancer diagnosis in 2014.


I am feeling anger towards my oncologist for dismissing this and creating a lot of worry / anxiety-
So great at curing me of the cancer but I am really baffled ...it seems they do not want to deal with this ....or are simply clueless which doesnt make sense ..it is supposed to be one of the best hospitals in North America for Head neck cancers.
I can read online LOW LYMPHOCYTES NEED FOLLOW UP !!!

My gastroenterologist agrees with me. He feels I was dismissed and immediately referred me to a hematologist.
My GP agrees my Lymphocytes need to be followed up.
He doesn't believe it is a cancer...lymphocytes would be HIGH not Low... but he doesn't know.

My questions ....

Has anyone experienced permanent damaged blood cells due to chemotherapy and radiation ?
Long term ... Is there anything that can be done to improve this ?

Has anyone requested an new oncologist ?


Note :
My thyroid failed in 2017...I have been on levothyroxine for about 1 year now...1mg and this has finally stabilized my TSH, t3 , t4 and ferritin, b12, folate numbers. I just started b12 vitamins.





Any help here is greatly appreciated

Thank you all,

Mark

I have had 147 views of this post and no responses...perhaps no one has this side effect..

I am happy to report I got to the bottom of this..
This is my new normal. .6 lymphocyte count is not normal. i do have to keep close watch on this. particularly when ill ...It took a 2nd oncologist to acknowledge this is probably the side -effects of chemotherapy / radiation.
google cisplatin( my chemo drug) and lymphopenia..there is a co-relation.

I have had many nasal/ ora infections in 5 years and now face a previous root canal / bridge that has become infected.
Hopefully a retreatment of the root canal will work ...an extraction I will avoid at all costs given the risk.

I am hoping this information someone finds helpful one day.

I am so sorry. I read, but had not experienced this (and I get some pretty wonky bloodwork at times).

If you're going for the root canal work, and with your healing compromised ... have they talked to you about hyperbaric oxygen treatments beforehand? They had me do that before removing my teeth (due to the radiation decay). It takes time, but it is supposed to help push those capillaries to grow and carry more oxygen, which is worth the effort.

((hugs))

Im very sorry Marco for not replying!!! None of us here are doctors or have medical training/backgrounds so unfortunately most will not have the specific, in depth knowledge you needed. Ive had bad bloodwork for at least the first 5 years after my first OC. It just became the norm for me. You are not alone with the thyroid not functioning properly after OC treatments. Seems like its inevitable for almost all who have been thru OC w/ rads and chemo... not sure if its only those who had cisplatin or not? Im currently on 75 mcg of levothorxine but sometimes my doc puts it up to 88 mcg after seeing my bloodwork numbers. Ive been doing this for so long (12 years) I havent paid much attention to my bloodwork numbers, guess I really need to watch every little thing like I used to!

Thank you very much for coming back and updating your post!!! Others definitely will benefit from your knowledge. Im hoping this will get sorted out for you soon. Best wishes for many more cancer-free years ahead.


@Kristen.....Pilocarpine has also been known to help patients with low platelets. Personally I couldnt stand the side effects of it making me sweat like crazy. I was given pilocarpine in addition to doing the HBO.

I've got the ruined thyroid too. I had carboplatin, but that's very close to cisplatin, isn't it? It does seem we all end up with that, but I thought it was the radiation. My rads doctor seemed to think so, but only in the way that he was quick to make sure I didn't blame HIM if my thyroid was fried (which had not occurred to me till he acted that way, sigh) ... his words to me were, "Well, it wouldn't have failed if it wasn't weak in the first place." Which I took to mean, "Yep, it was the radiation, but it's still your fault." Gah.

I didn't have to take anything else along with the HBO, though perhaps some movies for the TV would have been a good idea. Fortunately the room nurses had similar tastes in TV (we watched a lot of Food Network and HGTV, I think) which wasn't too bad (though watching all that good food is just torture for us oral cancer patients!). But each tube had its own screen, and we could choose our own channels, and if the nurses didn't want to listen in, they just muted the outside TV. All good. We swapped a lot of recipes.

Like Kristen and Christine, I read your post but wasn’t sure if I could help. Anyway, my husband deed up with hypothyroidism post treatment was prescribed thyroid hormone. He needed a root canal he second year after treatment. He was just in a general dentist’s office and no des required. Hope this helps.

Marcopolo,

I too have hypothyroidism after treatment, and take 150 Mcg of levothyroxine, which had increased over the years. My bloodwork is consistantly out of whack for almost 10 years, and the report looks like a Christmas tree, usually with 20 items out of range. I try to correct what I can, sometimes, but fewer theses days I receive medications or am hospitalized, have transfusions. Just a few weeks ago, I was at the ER for pneumonia after my 5th time there in several months after doing pretty good. I think when I stop seeing my doctors, several at that, I have problems, so now I have to catch up with all of them after a three month lapse (I was in a nursing home) . Sometimes I see some weekly or monthly, and others every three months usually.

I hope this helps.