If you have a cold or a flu could that delay you getting chemo treatments if you are fighting cancer?
anon in idaho asked:
Last week I had a port put inside my body so that could start chemo treatments for my cancer. A day or two after the operation, I somehow caught my mother’s nasty cold or flu. Could this cold or flu somehow delay my chemo treatments for my cancer? Why or why not?
Last week I had a port put inside my body so that could start chemo treatments for my cancer. A day or two after the operation, I somehow caught my mother’s nasty cold or flu. Could this cold or flu somehow delay my chemo treatments for my cancer? Why or why not?
Medical professionals, doctor’s,nurses, medical personnel or cancer surivors only please answer my question. Thank You.
http://wwwlumikancommycancerbattle.blogspot.com/
Chemotherapy depletes the neutrophils, lymphocytes and other white blood cells needed to fight infection, and may cause anemia by depleting red blood cells as well.
Depending on how aggressive your cancer is, and what kind of chemotherapy regimen you will be getting, it is possible that your physicians may elect for you to delay induction until the worst of cold symptoms are over.
On the other hand, you usually don’t get a diminishment of your white blood cells until about two weeks after the first dose of whatever you’re given (it takes about that long for your existing cells to die off, and your bone marrow to become suppressed), so your doctor may decide to proceed so long as you are exhibiting no signs of active bacterial infections (like getting a secondary bronchitis or pneumonia).
In any case, once you start chemotherapy, you need to make sure you stay away from confined crowds (like airplanes, concerts, and possibly theaters) as much as possible, avoid anyone exhibiting symptoms of illness, and wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and water, as that is how most viruses and bacteria are transmitted.