My mom is currently trying to recover after an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). She is in Day + 15, but her white blood cell count (WBC) is not recovering.
Stem cells have been infused twice, first on Day 0, and then again on Day +12.
WBC increased from 100 to 200 on Day +10, then came back to 100. It again increased to 200 on Day +14, but back to 100 on Day +15.
I am worried. What does this mean?
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ankitbhardwaj - Name: Ankit
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Mom
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Mar 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 54
Re: White blood cell count not recovering after transplant
Hi Ankitbhardwaj.
After my stem cell transplant, they would post a number by my bed called the ANC. ANC stands for "absolute neutrophil count."
WBC range is 4-11, but if you multiply that by 1000 and then multiply that by % Neutrophil, you will get your Mom's ANC.
If the numbers you mention are the ANC, then 100-200 is low. Can you ask your doctor to find out what the 100 and 200 actually means? Sometimes they use different units of measure.
I hope your Mom recovers soon.
Cathy
After my stem cell transplant, they would post a number by my bed called the ANC. ANC stands for "absolute neutrophil count."
WBC range is 4-11, but if you multiply that by 1000 and then multiply that by % Neutrophil, you will get your Mom's ANC.
If the numbers you mention are the ANC, then 100-200 is low. Can you ask your doctor to find out what the 100 and 200 actually means? Sometimes they use different units of measure.
I hope your Mom recovers soon.
Cathy
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antelope1225 - Name: Cathy1225
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: May 25 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 55
Re: White blood cell count not recovering after transplant
Yes, of course you are very concerned. Please be assured your Mom will engraft, but it will be a slow process, so you will need lots of patience. She sounds like she is a "slow engrafter" like I was.
It took me "forever" to engraft after SCT compared to the norm. I think everything was not much above 0 on Day +14, a day when most patients get released. I wasn't out-of-the-woods and able to go home until almost two months after SCT. I spent one month in the hospital and 3 weeks in the apartment across the street from hospital. I had to get transfusions of platelets and RBC and my WBC and ANC were still very low when released to the apartments and, even then, the counts still continued to fluctuate. Counts did not make a steady uphill climb; one day they would look better, then drop again the next. I was getting worried, but my oncologist assured me she had seen this before and I would engraft, but it was going to be a slow process. Fortunately, she was right.
Slow engrafting was due to having amyloid in the bone (I also have amyloidosis) and heavy pre-treatment with chemo prior to SCT. My bone marrow was very beat up, so it took longer than the norm. I did engraft eventually and the stem cells took.
Right now, I am 5 months from SCT and my RBC is still low at 3.1 and platelets at 101, but my WBC is in normal range. I am not on any chemo as my bone marrow is at 5% (lowest ever since having SCT) and cancer is present in blood (SPEP and light chains) but low and stable. My oncologist said my numbers could still continue to improve. So, even though your Mom is taking a long time to engraft, she can still achieve a good response from the SCT and hopefully even remission.
You can see my prior posts on this topic under user Melpen in subject "Autologous stem cell transplant failure" (started Jan 25, 2015)
Try not to worry. Your Mom will get there in time so do not despair!
It took me "forever" to engraft after SCT compared to the norm. I think everything was not much above 0 on Day +14, a day when most patients get released. I wasn't out-of-the-woods and able to go home until almost two months after SCT. I spent one month in the hospital and 3 weeks in the apartment across the street from hospital. I had to get transfusions of platelets and RBC and my WBC and ANC were still very low when released to the apartments and, even then, the counts still continued to fluctuate. Counts did not make a steady uphill climb; one day they would look better, then drop again the next. I was getting worried, but my oncologist assured me she had seen this before and I would engraft, but it was going to be a slow process. Fortunately, she was right.
Slow engrafting was due to having amyloid in the bone (I also have amyloidosis) and heavy pre-treatment with chemo prior to SCT. My bone marrow was very beat up, so it took longer than the norm. I did engraft eventually and the stem cells took.
Right now, I am 5 months from SCT and my RBC is still low at 3.1 and platelets at 101, but my WBC is in normal range. I am not on any chemo as my bone marrow is at 5% (lowest ever since having SCT) and cancer is present in blood (SPEP and light chains) but low and stable. My oncologist said my numbers could still continue to improve. So, even though your Mom is taking a long time to engraft, she can still achieve a good response from the SCT and hopefully even remission.
You can see my prior posts on this topic under user Melpen in subject "Autologous stem cell transplant failure" (started Jan 25, 2015)
Try not to worry. Your Mom will get there in time so do not despair!
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Melpen - Name: Melissa
- Who do you know with myeloma?: myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 5, 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 57
Re: White blood cell count not recovering after transplant
Dear Melpen/Cathy,
Thanks for your prayers, my mom's counts started recovering when engraftment happened at day +23, after second set of stem cells were infused on day +13. She is now discharged from hospital, on day +38 counts as below:
Platelets 141000, TLC 4000, HB 9.8
Just praying now to get a good response to control the disease.
Regards.
Thanks for your prayers, my mom's counts started recovering when engraftment happened at day +23, after second set of stem cells were infused on day +13. She is now discharged from hospital, on day +38 counts as below:
Platelets 141000, TLC 4000, HB 9.8
Just praying now to get a good response to control the disease.
Regards.
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ankitbhardwaj - Name: Ankit
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Mom
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Mar 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 54
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