Immune System

I have damaged bone marrow from chemo. My WBC is below normal. Does anyone know of ways to boost the immune system? I have follicular B cell indolent Non-Hodgkins. I had Hodgkins Lymphoma 2 yrs. ago. It is in remission. The NHL was gone after treatment but came right back. Now there are new drugs for my cancer but I don't qualify because of my low WBC.
Thanks for any help.

May God bless you and yours!
Love, >^..^< Kitty in WA >^..^<
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This is a common side effect of chemo. The WBC should come back up with time, transfusions or drugs like Neupogen. Generally patients dont have to skip more than a treatment or so. Your oncologist might even just lower the chemo dose so you could still get treated. Discuss options with your doc.

I finished chemo (ABVD) 2 yrs ago in Sept. I had radiation for a month on my head, neck and upper chest. I've lost the ability to smell. I have frozen jaws that just allow me small bites of food. I don't know how my dentist manages. I have less saliva, although it took a long time to get it. My throat is narrowed so I have a hard time swallowing meat or dry foods. I don't need chemo now, because my NHL has gone back to its original form (as far as we know). We do a CT/scan every 3 months to check on it. If it mutates into a more aggressive form of NHL I will be in for a big (maybe losing) fight. I would like my bone marrow to be healthy so I would be able to take treatments. At this time I don't qualify because of my low counts, but we don't need to do anything for now. I used Neulastin a day after each chemo because after the first treatment I had an infection and was neutropenic. As my Oncologist told me yesterday, that chemo tried to kill me a couple times, so she doesn't want to do anything unless it is really necessary. She said I could live for many years if the NHL stays as it is. But, I am afraid of getting other diseases because my immune system is compromised. I'd like to do something to build it up.
Kitty

My Non-Hodgkin's follicular lymphoma has mutated from Grade 1 to Grade 3. 1 is indolent but 3 is aggressive. I just had a bone marrow biopsy. We wanted to see if it had come back to the bone marrow and if so was it 1 or 3. Will get results in a couple more days. I have no choice but to do whatever I can to make myself as healthy as I can. I will be seeing Lymphoma Specialists at the UW. After that I will have to begin chemo again. The Rituxan didn't seem to do anything last summer. I am still in remission of the Hodgkin's but the NHL came back in less than a year. "They" say I have 2-3 yrs. I have heard that grade 3, when treated, can come back as grade 1. That gives me something to hope for. They said that no other cancers invade breast tissue, but NHL did. They said the people who get NHL don't get Hodgkin's, but I did. I almost died twice from ABVD chemo. I hope I make it through this second round. They won't use ABVD because it damaged my lung and I almost died. I don't know what kind of treatment she has in mind. I'll let you know when I know.

May God bless you and yours!
Love, >^..^< Kitty in WA >^..^<
<><
AKA Mary A